Follow the money, goes the maxim, and Irish companies were surely doing that on the high-profile trade mission to the Gulf led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny this week.
Eighty-seven businesses travelled in the hope of sealing deals or at least laying the groundwork for the future. Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton, who also travelled, said the Government was looking to more than double its trade with the region to about €1 billion from the current level of €400 million, something which, he said, could deliver 4,000 jobs.
Actual outcomes from the trade mission were more modest, with 65 companies signing deals worth a total of €65 million and promising the prospect of almost 100 new jobs – but they were far from insignificant for all that.
Not least the announcement from Oneview Healthcare that it had reached agreement in principle with Dubai's two Mediclinic hospitals to fit them out with its specialist software which works with hospital IT systems to deliver interactive patient care services, treatment education and entertainment to bedside terminals, tablet computers, smartphones and televisions. The announcement marks the company's first commercial deployment in the Middle East and working with Mediclinic, one of the top 10 listed private hospital groups in the world, will do its prospects no harm.
The fast-growing Oneview – headed by Dublin businessman Mark McCloskey and Australian banker James Fitter – has also signed contracts in Australia and the US in the past year.
The company recently announced plans to create 20 jobs this year, on top of the 12 posts in 2013, when it also expanded its Dublin office space. The company raised €10 million in two rounds of fundraising last year, the second of which allowed it open two new offices in the important US market as well as expanding its presence in Sydney and Dubai.
Mr Fitter said Oneview had been working with Mediclinic for nine months preparing the ground for this week’s agreement. Oneview expects the forthcoming partnership to “significantly impact” its position in a fast-growing software market and lead to more jobs within the group both in the Middle East and in Ireland.
