Enterprise, Trade & Employment Minister Micheal Martin is leading an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Korea and Japan this week.
The 40 companies participating are involved mainly in the IT, education, engineering services and seafood sectors.
The trip is aimed at raising the awareness of Ireland at government and business levels in both countries, and helping Irish firms to boost exports sales and establish partnerships with local businesses.
Minister Martin is to open a new Enterprise Ireland office in the South Korean capital Seoul, while a number of new contracts involving Irish companies are due to be announced.
Irish exports to Japan were worth €2.1 billion last year, while exports to Korea were €512m.
* The Minister for Trade and Commerce, Michael Ahern, is visiting New York with a number of Ireland's leading eLearning companies to raise the profile of these companies and promote new business at a major trade event. The visit is in association with Enterprise Ireland.
While in the US, the Minister will also will address the Bio-Link USA-Ireland Association. This is a group of Irish scientists and engineers working in the life sciences in the USA who are interested in providing support to the development of the biosciences in commercial, academic and government settings in Ireland.
