Minister Dara Calleary leads Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission to Poland focused on high-tech construction industry opportunities

L to R:   Jakub Mazur, Vice Mayor of Wroclaw; Tom Kelly, Industrial and Life Sciences Divisional Manager, Enterprise Ireland; Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary and Wojtek Gronowski, IPL

• Trade Mission coincides with Poland’s 20^th anniversary as an EU member.  

• 37 Irish companies participating on the Trade Mission - 233 Enterprise Ireland companies active in the Polish market. 

• Enterprise Ireland companies Sonalake and PPI Adhesive Products announce expansion in Poland.

• Enterprise Ireland company exports to Poland grew by 29% in 2022, to €390m, with a similar rate of growth expected in 2023. 

As Poland this month marks its 20^th anniversary of EU membership, Dara Calleary, Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation will today commence an Enterprise Ireland led Trade Mission to Poland. The two-day Trade Mission programme will take place in the Polish cities of Wroclaw and Warsaw, with a strong focus on the high-tech construction opportunities for Irish companies across the semiconductor, data centres, EV batteries, and advanced manufacturing industries in Poland.

In 2023, Intel announced that it had selected an area near Wrocław, Poland, as the site of a new semiconductor assembly and test facility, with Intel expecting to invest up to $4.6 billion in the facility.

Across the two-day trade mission, which will see 37 Irish companies participate in a series of events and meetings, Minister Calleary will visit several Irish companies operating in both cities, showcasing their success in the market and the wider Central Eastern Europe (CEE) region. The programme will also highlight the strong opportunities for Irish companies in CEE to establish, scale, and grow their business, and particularly the opportunities in high-tech construction.

Marking 20 years as an EU member, Poland is a stable market environment, and now positioned as the largest single market for Enterprise Ireland client companies in Central Eastern Europe. In 2022, Enterprise Ireland client exports to Poland increased by 29% to €390 million on the previous year.

Leading the Mission, Minister Calleary said: “Irish companies have established a worldwide reputation for the design, build and fit-out of complex construction projects and this is very much represented by the calibre of Irish companies participating on this trade mission. Ireland and Poland have a strong two-way trading relationship and the trade mission aims to boost this further, particularly in the area of further collaboration in the construction sector.”

Key highlights of the trade mission include:

• Meeting with Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski. 
• Wroclaw networking event and panel discussion to highlight Irish company capabilities in the high-tech construction space. Panel speakers will include representatives from Ryanair, PM Group and RKD.  
• Site visits to Enterprise Ireland client companies based in Wrocław including ID Technology and PM Group. ID Technology established its presence in Poland in 2014 and PM Group celebrated its 25^th anniversary in Poland in 2022.
• Sonalake in partnership with Enterprise Ireland will host a session focused on Fibre to the Home (FTTH) and Open Access Irish rollouts and contribution to European regulations. The audience will be Polish FTTH operators and regulators. 

With a focus on Intel’s planned investment and other high-tech construction opportunities in Poland and the wider region, the trade mission will showcase Ireland’s capability and vital role supporting the global construction industry. This includes designing and delivering advanced infrastructure across the data, pharma, and energy sectors, and pioneering digital innovations, while improving resource efficiencies across the life cycle.

The high-tech construction cluster in Ireland counts more than 100 companies who now deliver projects for the semiconductor, data center and life science blue-chip customers all over the world. These companies are operating at the highest levels of innovation and sustainability in respect to offsite manufacturing and modularisation and can play an important role in delivering on the EU’s strategic ambition to more than double its share of semiconductor manufacturing to 20% by 2030.

Speaking about the Trade Mission, Tom Kelly, Industrial and Life Sciences Divisional Manager, Enterprise Ireland said: “Ireland’s construction industry is at the cutting edge of innovation, leading the way in delivering complex projects across the globe. This trade mission highlights the success and strong partnerships between Irish and Polish construction industries and the growth opportunities which exist for Irish companies who recognise the vast potential of this dynamic and growing market. The region is a safe business environment, and I would encourage other Irish companies to explore the potential that exists in Poland and the wider Central and Eastern European region.”

A number of Enterprise Ireland client company announcements will take place during the Trade Mission including; 

• Irish multi-award-winning software partnering company Sonalake, will announce the opening of a new office in Poznań, where it employs over 90 software engineers. The company sees Poland as a growth market, particularly in software solutions for the fibre-optic operators. Sonalake has in-depth expertise in this area, as one of software providers for the National Broadband Plan in Ireland.

• Waterford based manufacturer, PPI Adhesive Products will sign contracts with two Polish companies. The first contract is with current customers of PPI Adhesive Products, ICPT, who are a Polish manufacturer of EV battery systems for electric vehicles and also Fibrain, a Polish manufacturer of cables who have recently acquired Ele-DriveCo, a manufacturer of energy storage solutions. PPI Adhesive Products have been active in the Polish market for more than 10 years. The company has been successful in the area of thermal transfer solutions for the EV battery systems, one of the fastest growing sectors in Poland.  

   

   

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Louise Cunningham
Enterprise Ireland 
Louise.cunningham@enterprise-ireland.com