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AIB has announced a new €200 million fund to support exporting companies in Ireland.
The fund was announced alongside the release of the bank’s latest Exports Outlook Report for SMEs.
The report, produced in association with the Irish Exports Association, Bord Bia and IPSOS MRBI, shows an upbeat mood among small and medium Irish businesses.
Of the 200 SMEs surveyed for the report, 65% say they expect stronger export sales in 2014 and 30% plan to export to new markets, notably the US, Germany, France, Spain and China.
Exports accounted for almost 40% of all SME sales in 2013, with the UK remaining the most important market for Irish exporters. Three-quarters of all those surveyed say they export to the UK – and it represents the only export market for 43% of them.
Almost half of those surveyed (46%) expect their export level to increase in 2014 on last year. Meanwhile, almost 40% say their staff levels will increase this year.
“Food and drink companies are optimistic to build on the €10 billion exports achieved in 2013,” Bord Bia’s Director of Markets Michael Murphy said on the launch of the report.
Ken Burke, AIB’s Head of Business Banking, said that the latest Exports Outlook Report findings show the potential for growth in SME exports:
Against the backdrop of improved business performance in 2013, it is important that AIB supports SMEs as they continue to build in existing markets and identify additional export opportunities. The research suggested that banks needed to do more for exporters and have a better understanding of exporting.
In addition to the launch of the €200m SME support fund, Burke said that the bank has partnered with DHL to provide “a 50% discount on DHL Express standard tariffs for international shipping for all AIB exporting customers for 12 months”. The bank has also appointed 85 ‘Export Finance Champions’ around Ireland to advise SMEs on practical export information.
Meanwhile, Irish Exporters Association CEO Simon McKeever described the export market as the “lifeblood of the Irish economy”, for driving innovation, growth and employment in Ireland. He welcomed AIB’s initiative to support SME exports, adding that “access to finance remains an issue for many exporting SMEs”.
According to the Outlook Report, of the SMEs that expect to see an increase in their export turnover this year, almost 72% will use existing resources from retained earnings to fund this growth, while another 25% believe they will require new finance.
Almost a third of all the companies surveyed applied to their main bank for some form of finance to support their export business growth last year. “Excluding any requests that are still pending, 80% of all requests made for export-related finance in 2013 were approved,” the report says.
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Get rid of that USC shite!
Absolutely! It was supposed to be “temporary!”
USC is 7% for the majority. Some pay nothing else. Tackle the marginal rates instead
Change street lights to LED.
Powerful sayings, don’t be getting ahead of yourself, do you think it’s just as simple as taking out the current lights and replacing them with leds? First off, we’ll have to set up a focus group so that everyone knows what we’re doing ‘going forward’. This focus group should comprise of retired/failed political cretins that have absolutely no background in engineering and probably couldn’t change the fuse in a plug. After several months of agreeing terms with an Led manufacturer in China, Enda decides it probably best instead to ude Denis o Brien’s led manufacturing plant, which he set up two weeks previous.
@Paul
Don’t forget the consultation with the Unions, and the claims that for Health and Safety reasons these new bulbs can’t be handled without proper preparation in the form of a % pay increase, a late start on a Monday and time to go to the Bank on Friday, a one off lump sum payment and finally, an allowance for new socks. Sure until that is all in place, it’ll be strikes and blackouts on the streets.
Dont we already have companies set up that could install the new lights. ESB and airtricity who already maintain the street lights!!!!
There’s a few crap ideas in that list , I have a few that would safe us about 150 million. No bonus for bankers. No pensions for politicians (pay for it yourselfs ya lazy sh.ts) retired or serving, no Irish water .
How would no bonuses for bankers save the Government money?
Maybe arrange for every Irish worker ‘donate’ a pint of blood every month at their place of work and sell it on the open market.
Here’s a good one – stop paying back the banking debt that wasn’t ours in the first place, instant saving of 9 billion a year.
Our banks were paid. That is now sovereign debt unfortunately. Lumped in with all our other sovereign debt.
You can ogra and f off with suggestions like that
Taxing drinking after midnight would be forever known as The Cinderella Tax. One of the more stupid ideas from FF.
If that’s the best Ogra FF have to offer, their parliamentary dinosaurs have little to fear from the FF young Turks, or should I say, cubs
A higher tax on alcohol will only serve to increase binge drinking- people will have an incentive to fill up on drink prior to midnight. To suggest anything else is not only stupid but goes against more or less every study carried out on licensing hours.
Well said. It would be a race against the clock – making sure you’re too pissed to want another drink after midnight. Just when you thought you’ve heard enough stupidity for one evening, FF come to the rescue.
If they put that levy on bottles & jam jars, I’ll be standing outside our local recycling place, 5 million to set up!! Ah well like father like son, as the saying goes….
Mee too. I remember being able to bring the empties down to the local shop. I earned my sweet money that way. Except for jam jars! My mother kept them to make jam!
Only problem then is that you have to be able to take them back, or to the recycle centre. I remember before they said we could put glass in the green bin, boxes of glass piling up and having to organise a lift to the recycle centre because all the local bottle banks disappeared.
It seems the ” young ff & fg ” are in line to wast tax payers money yet again, 5 million to set up people brining back bottles is ridiculous.
A gigantic tax on The Communication Clinic,inclusive of it’s husband and wife (PRONE to subterfuge) & their radio presenting son. Once spun for FF when Carr comm,now spinning for FG.
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/how-the-leading-pr-firm-came-asunder-26428144.html
We could bulldoze aras an uachtarain and build social housing and affordable housing for thousands. The president can afford to pay for his own place with his salary.
So comments on the terry prone/tuam story have now been locked-no further comments allowed. I wonder how this could be. Interesting who the CC’s director has advised?
“advised clients ranging from Cabinet Ministers, the CEO’s and Chairmen of some of Ireland’s largest PLC’s through to members of the Catholic Heirarchy and CEO’s of global charities.”Communications clinic
@ James ya w..k.r…u must be the son of a lazy low life politician.
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