CEFAMOL, Pool-Net and CENTIMFE were accompanied by a group of mold companies on a Business Mission to Ireland, between 26 and 30 June, with the aim of identifying opportunities in the medical devices industry in that country.

Celoplás, MD Group, SET, Socem, SteelPLUS and UEPro had the opportunity to visit entities and companies in the market that, in recent years, has shown remarkable levels of growth, currently being among the main markets for medical devices.

This was the first joint approach made in that market, as part of a strategy to intensify the investment of Portuguese molds in the area of medical devices. Most of the actions took place in the regions of Dublin, Athlone and Belfast, where it was possible to note that Ireland presents itself as a market with "a very interesting dynamic, centered mainly in the area of medical devices, but also in the pharmaceutical industry".

The mission focused on a set of visits and 'surgical' meetings with local companies and institutions, in order to acquire detailed information about the market, its development trends and the way the sector operates, which maintains a growing trajectory in that country. Technological centers and universities with laboratories to support companies in the field of research and product development were also visited.

The mission also included several B2B meetings, in which the companies and the different entities that integrated this mission had the opportunity to introduce themselves and seek to establish points of synergy. Some of the national companies already have some work done in that country; for others, it was a first approach that they considered interesting and with the possibility of developing business in the future. It was "a promising first step towards establishing a process of connection, knowledge and interaction with companies in that country, in order to progressively consider Portuguese manufacturers in their supply chains".

This action, integrated in the 'Engineering & Tooling From Portugal' project, had the local collaboration of the Irish cluster ATIM (Advanced Technologies in Manufacturing) and the Northern Ireland Polymer Association (NIPA), with which the national mold industry seeks to strengthen ties.

CEFAMOL, together with CENTIMFE and Pool-net are already preparing other initiatives with agents of this market, seeking to identify new lines of action that will translate into opportunities for national companies.

The focus will always be very centered on the medical devices sector, however, and during this visit, it was possible to contact companies from other business areas and, therefore, in terms of the future, the actions to be carried out may have a more diversified range of contacts.