Trade Mission Targets India

Senior managers of 28 companies and representatives from the Queen's University Belfast and the University of Ulster are taking part in an Invest Northern Ireland organised trade mission to India.

The delegation, among the biggest-ever from Northern Ireland to India, are in Delhi and Mumbai on a mission supported by staff at Invest NI's office in Mumbai.

In addition to exploring business in Delhi and Mumbai, companies will be travelling to other commercial centres such as Bangalore and Chennai.

While 11 of the companies are visiting India for the first time on an Invest NI trade mission, the delegation includes several firms with significant business in this dynamic marketplace.

The established exporters include Delta Print and Packaging, a west Belfast manufacturer of folded cartons which has a successful joint venture in India, Denman International, a Bangor specialist in haircare products, PWS Ireland of Newry with a joint venture in Nagpur and has supplied road signs to India's National Highways Authority, Randox Laboratories of Crumlin, a manufacturer of diagnostic kits, and SRS of Ballygawley, a supplier of blockmaking machinery.

Telestack International in Omagh has also provided machinery to India's extensive iron ore mining industry and Schrader Electronics, Antrim is providing its remote tyre pressure monitoring system to an Indian automotive corporation.

Queen's University and the University of Ulster both have established relationships with similar institutions in India including the Bengal Engineering and Science University in Calcutta, the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi and the University of Madras in Chennai. The universities will be seeking to extend agreements they already have in areas such as technology transfer and student/staff exchanges.

Dr Vicky Kell, Invest NI Trade Director, commented on the mission: "The size of this mission shows that India is continuing to attract the interest of companies across a broad range of business sectors here. What is particularly encouraging about this mission is the support it has attracted from companies offering professional services in building, project management and the law.

"There's a very strong representation from architectural practices seeking to benefit from the extensive infrastructural investment now underway throughout Indian. I am confident that they have the expertise to win business in India, but they need to be patient and to invest time and resources on building a presence there.

"Several local companies offering screening and recycling machinery are already established in the market and their success has encouraged others to explore opportunities there.

"All the participating companies have been able to take advantage of the advice and strongly practical support provided by our staff in Mumbai and their team of business advisers," she said.

(BMcC)