The event featured a keynote address from the First Minister of Wales, Rhun ap Iorwerth  and was followed by a short business panel discussion exploring opportunities to deepen trade and investment cooperation between Wales and Ireland.

Browne Jacobson has offices on both sides of the Irish Sea, in Cardiff, Dublin and in Belfast following its merger with Northern Ireland law firm Davidson McDonnell in May.

Tim Edds, partner and head of Cardiff at Browne Jacobson, said: “We are proud to host the launch of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce’s Welsh Chapter. As a firm uniquely embedded at both ends of the Welsh-Irish trade corridor via our offices in Cardiff, Belfast and Dublin, we can understand the importance of having this kind of institutional platform to build and support trade relationships, across these islands act as a collective voice and develop new economic opportunities across high-growth sectors such as green energy and life sciences.”

Jeanne Kelly, partner and co-founder of Browne Jacobson’s Dublin office, added: “As both a co-founder of our Irish office, and a board member and past president of British Irish Chamber of Commerce, it is personally rewarding to welcome this expansion. We thank Paul Lynam, Cillian Molloy and the team for their ongoing support of this initiative.”

Wales and Ireland are longstanding trade and investment partners, with strong two-way trade flows underpinning close economic ties between the two nations. Ireland is the third largest export market for Welsh products, and this connectivity continues to grow, reinforced by the recent green energy interconnector between the two countries and expanding partnerships between third-level institutions in Wales and Ireland.

The launch of the Welsh chapter marks a new phase for the Chamber’s work in the region, aiming to strengthen these ties further and support businesses on both sides of the Irish Sea to grow their economies through closer collaboration.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, First Minister of Wales, said: “Wales and Ireland have strong economic connections, with around 85 Irish owned companies investing £31 Million in Wales last year, complementing our own strengths in sectors such as financial services, compound semi-conductors and cyber security.

“Dublin was my first overseas visit since becoming First Minister in May and I look forward to building ever-closer ties with Ireland, including through our shared economic interests. Wales’s new chapter of the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce will play an important role in making the links between our two nations even stronger in the coming years.”

Helen McEntee, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, added: “I welcome the launch of the Welsh Chapter of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce. The British Irish Chamber of Commerce has done tremendous work in building the bilateral trade relationship between the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Ireland-Wales relationship has deepened in recent years, and the Ireland-Wales Shared Statement 2023 outlines our planned cooperation up to the end of the decade. One area of particular focus is advancing our economic & trade links; the establishment of the Welsh chapter further assists our governments to achieve this commitment.”