Irish firms have landed deals worth over €36 million during a trade mission to the Middle East this week.

The trade mission was organised by the Government's indigenous job creation agency, Enterprise Ireland.

Most of the contracts won this week are in the construction sector with firms such as PM Group, Jones Engineering and Woodfit.

Construction firm P. Elliott and Wills Brothers Engineering announced a joint venture with the Alzahid Group - a large Saudi construction-based firm with over 31,000 workers worldwide.

It is expected that the partnership will generate a number of lucrative construction deals for the two firms which are based in Cavan and Mayo.

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Cork-based Apex Fund Services was the first foreign fund administration firm to secure official registration for its services in Saudi Arabia.

The deal means Apex Fund Services, already active in several export markets, can begin to grow its business in the Middle East.

Other Irish firms that won contracts this week include Dublin-based business consultancy firm Farrelly and Mitchell and Cork-based Globetech which is involved in parking management. Waterford company Ardmore Equine Nutrition, owned by the Gleeson family, opened a base in Dubai to service the equine and camel nutrition markets in the Middle East.

In the education sector, Carlow Institute of Technology, Cork Institute of Technology and Blanchardstown Institute of Technology in Dublin got the go-ahead to train Saudi students in vocational skills following an agreement reached by the Irish and Saudi governments.

Meanwhile, the institutes of technology in Athlone, Waterford and Galway-Mayo, which were already involved in the inter-government initiative, got approval to deliver masters programmes to Saudi scholarship students.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O'Keeffe described this week's trade mission as "an important boost for Ireland's export-led economic recovery".

(CD/BMcC)