Four startups which participated in a Fingal County Council trade mission to China have established links there which could see them grow into the Chinese market and beyond, according to county mayor Mary McCamley.

The four knowledge economy startups joined 42 other delegations from cities across the globe at the Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair which took place from 17-20 May in Chengdu.

The businesses that benefited from the event were finalists in this year’s Fingal Enterprise Awards: Alan Hickey of WeBringg, Graham McCarthy of MIAS Pharma, Roman Grogan of DropChef and Alex Duller of Relodata. The fair offered the opportunity to network and build international business links, with a view to growing their export potential, both in China and in other countries at the fair, and each has now established valuable trade links.

McCarthy commented: “The world is a small place and there are so many opportunities for us in Fingal to build our international profile as a great place to live, to work and to do business.”

Chief executive Paul Reid added: “There is enormous value in building and growing our international relations in Asia. We have achieved a fantastic result in selling Fingal as a modern, innovative and enterprising region — not only to the municipal government in Chengdu but also to the 600 officials from 42 regions and cities across the globe.”

In Association with

WeBringg is establishing a sister company in Australia and is also looking to Asia and North America for future expansion. MIAS Pharma held meetings with pharma companies in China and established valuable contacts with other delegations. Dropchef and Relodata used the opportunity to build contacts with businesses and delegations from across the globe.

Of the 42 delegations, Fingal was one of six regions attending the event which were selected to deliver keynote speeches to delegates, alongside Sydney, Nuremberg, Toronto, Haifa and Nottingham.

Fingal’s speech was delivered jointly by Mayor McCamley and Reid, and focused on the theme of ‘Opportunities and challenges for the development of the new economy’. The Dublin area county already has strong ties with Chengdu, the fourth largest city in China with a population of 16 million.