South Tyrone engineering firms ‘stand tall’ in Dubai

SOME of south Tyrone’s major engineering firms were among a delegation who visited Dubai last week.

CDE Global, EDGE Innovate, McCloskey International and Powerscreen were just some of the companies who travelled to the Arab city along with the North’s Economy Minister Gordon Lyons for The Mining Show 2021.

Mid Ulster’s burgeoning engineering sector is largely responsible for the manufacture of over 40 per-cent of the world’s tracked mobile crushing and screening equipment.

“Northern Ireland is recognised as a centre of excellence in the design and manufacture of engineering and technology-led solutions for the global mining and quarrying industry. Embedded within this is one of the world’s most successful clusters of engineering companies, currently working on projects across the globe, from diamond exploration in South Africa to sand washing in the Arabian Gulf and iron ore mining in India, to name but a few,” said Minister Lyons.

“As outlined in my Department’s 10X vision, encouraging and supporting trade and investment is key to economic growth. I was proud today to join these Northern Ireland companies at the Dubai Mining Show and support them as they showcase their products and services, take advantage of the many opportunities the UAE has to offer and work to grow their businesses globally.”

Steve Harper, who is Invest NI’s Executive Director of International Business, said, “Shows like the Mining Show in Dubai offer an abundance of opportunities for Northern Ireland companies to collaborate with global partners and showcase their innovations across the Middle East, Africa, and worldwide.

“Today, Northern Ireland businesses stood tall amongst the world’s mining companies and showcased their sector leading expertise and advocated how they can benefit projects in this region. Invest NI has had great success in supporting companies win export deals through initiatives like today’s Mining Show. I look forward to seeing the future successes from today’s show and supporting these companies to continue to expand their global footprint.”

Such has been the success of Mid Ulster’s engineering sector, many local companies are struggling to fill hundreds of vacancies, as the orders continue to roll in. Some local companies have introduced a four-day week, as an incentive to attract new employees.