22 May 2022
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Martin Murray, Executive Director Asia Matters, who will host the two-day
virtual EU Asia SME Scaling Summit from Cork on May 25-26.
A high-level conference, aimed at opening minds as well as doors to doing business in Asia and with Asian firms in Ireland, is set to be hosted from Cork next week (May 25-26).
Both the Indian and Chinese ambassadors to Ireland, and the Irish ambassador to China, will speak at the Asia Matters EU Asia SME Scaling Summit, being held virtually.
The summit will hear invaluable insights from the senior executives of major Indian and Chinese FDI companies in Ireland on how SMEs can form successful partnerships with these firms.
Speakers will include the country heads of Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Financial Services, Wipro, Bank of China, ICBC Financial Leasing and WuXi Biologics, and participants will also hear first-hand from Irish success stories in Asia such as Combilift and Altada.
The summit is held in partnership with Munster Technological University, Cork City Council and Cork County Council.
“This Summit is focused on educating Irish SMEs and facilitating partnership both in Ireland and Asia,” said Martin Murray, Executive Director of Asia Matters, who are hosting the Summit.
“Many Irish SMEs wrongly feel that they are too small to become part of the FDI ecosystem.
“And many firms who typically look to the UK and EU have not yet raised their horizons to the opportunities in the vast Asia-Pacific markets.”
“They need to know what Asian businesses are looking for in Ireland, and how to finance and scale into export markets.
“For example, there are a myriad of opportunities for Irish companies with innovative sustainable tech solutions in the areas of high impact cleantech, agritech, fintech, and healthtech, particularly in the areas of climate action and gender balance.”
Asia Matters is a non-profit and apolitical membership institute which specialises in helping Irish companies which currently look to the UK and Europe, to expand their horizons to Asia, where they then facilitate their business expansion.
The summit will also feature a session on the future of Fintech hubs in Asia and Europe with experts from Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Ireland and Japan, in partnership with Zhejiang University International Business School (ZIBS).
This will be followed by a discussion on SME Financing, Scaling and Succeeding in Asian Markets, featuring Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, Irish Strategic Investment Fund, Enterprise Ireland, Atlantic Bridge and the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment.
Registration for the summit is free at asiamatters.eu.