THE Irish Trade Board, together with the Northern Ireland agency for small industry, LEDU, is hoping to further promote Ireland's green image through a new computer disc scheme.
Targeting thousands of key buyers of Irish products in Britain, Europe and other major world markets, the Trade Board is optimistic that its latest initiative will help Irish companies to win a substantial share of the estimated £125 billion market for environmental products and services.
This month, the Trade Board has announced that it will start distributing a comprehensive database to overseas buyers, on more than 500 companies in the Republic and North of Ireland which provide environmental products and services.
The new database, which is compiled on computer disc, is known as Connect, and is a follow up to a printed directory of Irish environmental companies distributed to buyers earlier this year.
Using Connect, the Trade Board says that buyers can gain a complete overview of the Irish environmental industry, with access to details on the various subsectors, companies, brands and customers. Further enquiries can be made directly to individual companies by fax, it says.
Mr Jim Mooney, manager of the State agency's Environmental Unit, says the market for environmental companies is potentially bigger than the aerospace industry, with forecasts that it could grow to more than £200 billion a year by the end of the decade.
Already well established, he believes that companies in the North and Republic of Ireland can increase their share of the global market.
"The Irish ETI sector is well established, has invested significantly in research and development and has particular expertise in areas such as water and waste treatment, recycling and laboratory testing," according to Mr Mooney.
Most companies in this sector, he says, are exporters, selling mainly to markets such as Britain, Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia.
Europe is the most important market for Irish environmental companies, Mr Mooney states. And with indications that the already tough EU environmental policies will be further stepped up in the future, he predicts that the annual spend on environmental products and services, which is now running at close to £60 million a year in Europe, will steadily rise.
The Trade Board's primary objective, he says, is to alert Irish companies to the "big business opportunities overseas markets. In Europe, the Trade Board says the four biggest environmental spending areas are on water and waste treatment, air pollution control, waste management and contaminated land reclamation.
Between now and 1999, it estimates that States such as Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain be spending up to £14 billion on environmental projects such sewage, water supply and management. In the Irish it says, spending is already running at close to £650 million a year.
On the promotional front, the Trade Board has organised presentations for buyers in Britain, France, Germany and Sweden, show the capabilities of Irish suppliers and will be overseas trade missions to trade fairs during the year.
