Mayo women headline business summit

BUSINESS LEADERS Pictured at the business summit at Glen Keen farm were, from left: Fidelma McGuirk, founder and CEO, Payslip; Catherine O’Grady Powers, CEO, Glen Keen Estate Ltd; Sorcha O’Grady, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Truckscience; Noreen McKenzie, President, Network Ireland; Biddy Hughes, Head of Operations, Westport Estate; Orla Good, Commercial Director, Portwest; Keira Keogh, VP, Board of Directors JCI (Junior Chamber International) and Kate Heneghan, musician and radio presenter.   

Asia Matters, Ireland’s only Asia think tank, is a non politicial organisation focused on building dynamic business links and informed understanding between Asia, the EU and Ireland, to drive win-win partnerships and economic growth.
This year, Asia Matters brought their annual business summit to the west of Ireland. It was a busy week with summit events hosted by Atlantic Technological University, The Portershed and Udaras na Gaelteachta, where the group heard from industry leaders and innovators such as John Power of Aerogen; Dr Helen McBreen, Atlantic Bridge; John Brady and Brown Bag Films. The theme for the business summit was ‘Building Ireland’s future with Asia’ and the  key events covered were: Creative and Cultural Industries; Scaling and Innovation; The Blue Economy and Marine Innovation; West of Ireland Female Leaders; Top Economists Financial Roundtable and the Future of Food Roundtable with Bord Bia.
The strong panel of speakers for the Female Leaders roundtable event at Glen Keen Estate on November 30 showcased just a few of the global businesses based in the west and Co Mayo, demonstrating the strengths and benefits of Mayo and its access to the global economy.
The opening remarks by Catherine O’Grady Powers, CEO, Glen Keen Estate Ltd, a member of the advisory board of Asia Matters, highlighted the value of relationship building and shared knowledge and Catherine extended a special thanks to the Indian Ambassador to Ireland, Akilesh Mishra, for all of his time and expertise.
The panel of Mayo businesses who participated at the Female Leaders roundtable event represented over half a billion euro annually to the Irish economy, which is just a sampling of the global reach and economic power in Mayo and that of the Irish rural economies.  
The week concluded with a high profile awards ceremony in Dublin in partnership with The Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, ATU, Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland, Ibec, IDA Ireland, PwC Ireland, The Department of Finance, ÚdarΡs na Gaeltachta and media partner The Sunday Times.

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The awards recognise excellence in Irish Companies across a range of categories. See: www.asiamatters.eu