| Ireland buys over 17 times more per capita from the Arab countries than they buy from us |
| “Even though Ireland has a surplus of €753 million in its trade with the Arab countries, we still buy over 17 times more per capita from them than they buy from us” said Louis Maguire, Chairman of the Joint Arab-Irish Chamber of Commerce, following a review of the 2007 trade figures released by the CSO recently. |
| Our total exports to the Arab markets grew by 14.5% in 2007 to reach €1,160 million, while our imports from the Arab countries grew by 243% to reach €407 million." |
IRISH TRADE WITH ARAB COUNTRIES
POWERING AHEAD |
| Irish exports to the Arab countries reached around €1.1billion last year according to Louis Maguire, Chairman of the Joint Arab-Irish Chamber of Commerce in Dublin. “This represents a growth of 10% over 2006 and reflects the positive effects of higher oil prices combined with the impact of the trade promotional work done by the government in these markets in recent years” he added. |
| Imports from the Arab markets are also increasing significantly and may reach €400m when the final figures for 2007 are released in a few weeks. This will represent an increase of 60% over the previous year which is due mainly to the importation of oil related products from Libya and Algeria. |
