Contracts worth over €5m were announced between two Irish firms and French companies at a breakfast briefing hosted by Enterprise Ireland in Lyon today.
The companies are Co Kerry-based Tricel and Wood Energy Solutions from Cahir in Co Tipperary.
France is Ireland's sixth largest market for goods exports and the country's fifth largest for services exports, with nearly €10 billion in total exports going from Ireland to France each year.
Tricel, which is Europe's leading manufacturer of wastewater treatment systems, agreed a deal Rhone Alpes Assainissement, who are the leading supplier of environmental products in their region.
Wood Energy Solutions, manufacture biomass boilers and microCHP for the domestic and commercial sectors.
It said today that it is expanding into mainland European markets through its joint venture company WOODCO - a joint venture between WES and Ecometis.
Enterprise Ireland's Director of UK and Northern Europe, Marina Donohoe, said that the contracts reflected the agency's strategy to scale Irish exports to established markets like France.
She said that exports of Irish-owned companies to France grew by 5% in 2014, reflecting the demand for the world-class goods and services which Irish companies have to offer.
"The achievements of these Irish companies clearly demonstrate that innovative and ambitious Irish exporters are performing extraordinarily well in a mature market like France where they face tough competition from both local players and other highly skilled economies," Ms Donohoe added.
