including a breakfast briefing featuring guest-speaker Naomi Fein, CEO of Think Visual

The EEN at Cork Chamber is offering local businesses the opportunity to meet a UK business delegation led by the EEN from the Midlands (UK) on Wednesday 24 June in the Clarion Hotel. 

The morning will begin with a breakfast briefing, where Cork companies will have the opportunity to meet and network with the UK visitors.  Guest speaker at the breakfast will be Naomi Fein, CEO and lead graphic harvester of Think Visual (see below for full biography).  Naomi will address the idea of creative thinking and visual communication as a means of crossing inter-cultural barriers, which is particularly relevant for businesses that are targeting new markets.

 Following the breakfast briefing, there will be an opportunity to take part in a B2B matchmaking session with the visiting UK delegates, where companies will be able to explore potential synergies through 1:1 meetings.  These meetings must be booked in advance.  Please contact eimear@corkchamber.ie to specify which of the companies below you would be interested in meeting.

The participating UK companies include:
1. High Force Research Ltd. 
2. Martec of Whitwell Ltd. 
3. MD Advisory 
4. Pharma Glass Vials and Closures Ltd. 
5. Repeat Software Ltd. 
6. Shelton's Coffee 
7. Soutron Ltd. 
8. Tarvin Precision Ltd. 

About the Speaker:

Naomi Fein, CEO and lead graphic harvester of Think Visual.  She is a fast creative thinker, who after over 15 years of illustration and design work, combined with group facilitation, has the ability to capture abstract knowledge and transform it into clear visual outputs on the spot. Through her new company, she and her team work closely with influential thinkers and leaders of global companies. Helping them to visualise complex ideas found in varied areas such as finance, technology, pharma, science, leadership, culture and others. Their impressive visual outputs help make the knowledge memorable, actionable and shareable. Naomi recently won the 2015 Network Ireland Cork Businesswoman of the Year award.

For further information about the UK companies visit here, or contact Katherine@corkchamber.ie for further information.

Marking 10 Years of Cooperation
Cork China Business Summit (Ireland Southwest – Lower Yangtze Regions)
Cork City Hall, Monday 13 July 2015

The Cork China Business Summit is an Asia Matters initiative, in partnership with Cork Chamber, Cork City Council, Cork County Council and Cork Institute of Technology. The summit will take place in Cork City Hall on Monday, 13 July and will bring together top business leaders from Ireland and delegations from China, offering a unique occasion to develop trade and investment opportunities. Its focus will be on the following areas:

• Food and Agritech
• Education and Tourism
• Science and Technology

The Cork China Business Summit is taking place at a pivotal point in Sino-Irish relations, with 2014 trade figures exceeding €8 billion and with the food and drink industry exceeding €500 million, a 400% rise from 2010 figures. Links in education have grown considerably, with Cork-based institutions well represented in the 160 plus partnership agreements between Ireland and China.

Cork and the Southern Region have pioneered the use of twinned and sister cities initiatives in building relations with China. In 2005, Cork and Shanghai signed the first twin city agreement between Ireland and China and over the last 10 years, this relationship has gone from strength to strength. Cork County Council and Kerry County Council entered into cooperation with Hangzhou, Wuxi, Jiangsu province, Zhejiang province and Shenzhen. Furthering cooperation with these prospering Chinese cities and provinces holds vast potential for Ireland with these major urban centres and densely populated provinces driving China’s remarkable economic growth.

Speakers include:

• Lord Mayor of Cork
• Ambassador of China to Ireland, H.E. Mr. Xu Jianguo
• Consul General of Ireland to Hong Kong and Macau, H.E. Mr. Peter Ryan
• Mr. Tim Lucey, Cork County Manager
• Mr. Pat Ledwidge, Director of Services, Cork City Council
• Mr. Barrie O’Connell, President, Cork Chamber
• Mr. Pat Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, Morgan McKinley
• Mr. Dave Murphy, CEO, PM Group,
• Mr. Frank O'Mahony, MD, Wilson Architecture

Asia Ireland Food and Agritech Forum
CIT, Tuesday 14 July 2015

The Asia Ireland Food and Agritech Forum is an Asia Matters initiative, in partnership with Cork Chamber, Cork City Council, Cork County Council, and Cork Institute of Technology. The forum will take place on 14 July in Cork Institute of Technology. The conference will bring together top business leaders from Ireland and delegations from Asia, offering a unique occasion to develop business opportunities.

The event will focus on the opportunities across Asia in the food and agritech sectors as rising populations, increased urbanisation and consumer classes drive demand for quality food products, improved technologies and expertise across Asia. Cork and the Southern region are home to some of the top food and agribusiness companies in the world, as well as providing a knowledge cluster on food technology, safety and sustainability through its excellent third level institutions. The scope of the event is to bring key stakeholders from the Cork region together with Asian delegates, so that mutually beneficial opportunities in the food and agritech sector can be unlocked.

Ireland’s food and drinks exports hit €10.5 billion in 2014 and this represents a 45% rise from 2009 figures and exports to China rose to €520 million, a 40% increase from 2013. China is now Ireland’s 2^nd largest dairy market and its 2^nd largest pig meat market. With Japan lifting the beef ban in 2013 and with the announcement of China lifting its ban, beef exports are expected to rise considerably. Growth in the Asian food space, coupled with the lifting of EU quotas on dairy production, represent major opportunities for Irish and Asian companies to cooperate across the food and agritech sectors.

The forum will provide a platform to introduce top companies and experts from Ireland key business and government delegations from markets across Asia to each other to develop and strengthen business partnerships.

Speakers include:

• Phil Hogan, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development
• Mr. David Butler, Director, Sustainable Food Systems Ireland
• Mr. Zhang Feng, Director, Institute of Food Safety at the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine
• Mr. Cathal Fitzgerald, Head of Food and Agriculture Investments, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, National Treasury Management Agency
• Mr. Cormac Healy, Director, Irish Dairy Industries Association
• Mr Jim Woulfe, CEO, Dairygold (tbc)

The event will be followed by a dinner and will feature Mr. Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Food, Agriculture and the Marine, as guest speaker.

For further information about these events contact  Katherine or to book a place, click here.