Over 250 business representatives from across the island of Ireland were in attendance at the 10th Annual Cross-Border Trade & Economic Conference jointly hosted by Newry and Dundalk Chambers’ on Tuesday 4th March in the Carrickdale Hotel.
This conference was supported by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Louth County Council, InterTradeIreland, Louth Local Enterprise Office, Dundalk Chamber Skillnet and M1 Corridor, hosted by Broadcaster & Journalist, Mark Simpson.
When this conference was first held in 2015, cross-border trade was worth just over €5bn. According to most recent figures, this has now trebled to around €15bn, illustrating the significant growth and importance of cross-border trade to our economies both North and South.
This year’s conference was addressed by Alan Dillon TD, Minister of State for Small Business and Retail & Circular Economy in the Irish Government and Shane Murphy, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Department for the Economy.
The ongoing theme for the conference is ‘Building a Sustainable All-Island Economy’ and featured 12 expert speakers from both sides of the border across four sections including the All-Island Economy, Business Supports, Skills & People and Growing Prosperity on a Shared Island.
Speaking after the event, Newry Chamber President, Edwina Flynn said:
“This important conference has been another major success with such a varied range of speakers who are experts in their respective fields and I would like to thank everyone who took the time out of their busy schedules to contribute what was an excellent event.”
“We have a fantastic working relationship with our partners in Dundalk Chamber and both Chambers have led the way for many years on driving cross-border collaboration.”
“The conference highlighted the many opportunities and challenges we face and with the help of a wide range of business support organisations who were exhibiting in the room, there is an extensive range of funding and training programmes available to businesses both North and South.”
Paddy Malone, Public Relations Officer of Dundalk Chamber of Commerce said:
“This conference has been a beacon for the promotion of cross-border trade for many years and our partnership with Newry Chamber continues to flourish and set an example of how collaboration can bring benefits to both sides of the border.”
“The aim of the conference is to promote Building a Sustainable All-Island Economy and all our speakers and panellists demonstrated how this can be done and what challenges we need to meet along the way.”
“There is so much economic potential across this island and we all now need to play our part in grasping those opportunities that are coming our way.”