The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, arrived in Washington this morning in advance of the US-Ireland Business Summit which begins later today.
The summit, which continues until Friday, is being attended by political and business leaders from the whole island of Ireland and from the US.
It is hoped that the two day summit will provide an forum for discussion on key business issues affecting the economies on both sides of the Atlantic and to pioneer new policy initiatives to promote trade and investment opportunities.
The summit is also being attended by a large delegation from Northern Ireland headed by the Assembly's Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Sir Reg Empey. Mr Don Evans Secretary of State for Commerce heads the US delegation.
The Tánaiste has described the two days of meetings as "a unique opportunity to promote and develop trade and investment opportunities between the US and both parts of the island of Ireland."
"What is significant about the summit is that it is not just a number of politicians sitting down to talk about how we might do more business. It is about senior and respected business people talking about how to do more business."
The Tánaiste is being accompanied at the Washington Summit by the Chief Executives of Ireland's development agencies including Mr Sean Dorgan of IDA Ireland, Mr Dan Flinter of Enterprise Ireland, Mr Martin Cronin of Forfás, Mr Kevin Thomstone of Shannon Development and Dr Bill Harris of Science Foundation Ireland.
