Enterprise Ireland has announced three important sales contracts by client companies responding to opportunities in the French Cleantech and Construction sectors.

The announcement was made at a prestigious business event in Paris attended by President Michael D. Higgins as part of his official visit to Paris.

President Higgins’ attendance at the event, which was organised by the Irish Embassy in Paris in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Bord Bia and Network Irlande, reflects the importance the Government attaches to Ireland’s economic and trade relationship with France.

Irish companies AMCS (Co. Limerick), Anua (part of the Bord na Mona Group), and Cork Plastics signed contracts to the value of €1.5m with three French companies. The contracts represent significant wins for the three companies who are providing innovative products and solutions to the highly competitive Cleantech and Construction sectors in France. The contracts also support 18 jobs in Ireland.

Speaking at the event President Higgins said: "We know that innovation and entrepreneurship are vital for Irish economic recovery and growth; and that people who are willing to innovate, to take chances and to turn ideas into reality are the people we need to lead our economy to recovery and growth. I would like to congratulate the Irish companies here today on the progress they have made in generating new and significant export opportunities in France."

AMCS, headquartered in Limerick are leaders inintegrated environmental software and solutions for the recycling and waste management industry. The company has secured a contract with SIRTOM de Sedan, a group of local authorities in the Ardennes Region of France that manage the collection, recycling and treatment of household waste in over 44 cities. SIRTOM de Sedan is implementing the new ‘Pay As You Throw’ (PAYT) legislation for domestic waste collection charging in France. The local authorities will use the collection data from the AMCS technology to measure the amount of recycling taking place to generate invoices for its residents. Along with use of RFID technology to track and determine the identity of the bin being collected, SIRTOM will also make use of novel features such as GPS and mapping to monitor its collection operations. Since mid 2012, AMCS has created four jobs in Ireland to support the French market entry and they envisage creating a further 10 jobs in Ireland to support the French market over the coming 18 months.

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Anua, part of the Bord na Mona Group, and their French partner L’Eau Pure, signed their first contract with SIAAP, a large French municipal authority which provides wastewater treatment for almost 12m inhabitants in the greater Parisian area. The contract worth €400,000 is for the refurbishment of odour control units at Seire Aval, in the Paris area. The contract is very significant for Anua/L’Eau Pure as it represents their first municipal reference customer in France with more than 15 odour control units installed on different SIAAP sites.

Cork Plastics is a leading manufacturer and supplier of high quality PVC products and services to the agricultural, construction and building sectors in Ireland and the UK. They have signed a significant partnership agreement with Sarl Duluc, a specialised building merchant. Under the agreement SARL Duluc has signed an initial contract to purchase €1m of Cork Plastics PVC facia and cladding. Cork Plastics has recently designed and launched two new product ranges specifically adapted to the French market. Two new dedicated production lines are now up and running in their plant in Little Island, directly creating four new jobs in Ireland and two new jobs in France. This initial milestone is the start of a major expansion into the French market; Cork Plastics aim to launch additional production lines in the future which could over time create up to 10 new jobs in Ireland.

Congratulating the companies on their success, Frank Ryan, CEO of Enterprise Ireland said: "France is the third largest export market for Irish companies and a significant trading partner with Ireland. The announcement of these contracts reflects Enterprise Ireland’s strategy to further scale our bilateral trade and exports to established markets like France. Exports of Irish-owned companies to France grew by 14% in 2011 reflecting the demand for the world class goods and services which Irish companies have to offer.

"While conditions in international markets remain challenging, the achievements of these three Irish companies 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."

(GK)