THE OUTLOOK for exports is more positive now than it has been for three years, State agency Enterprise Ireland has said in its end-of-year statement.

This year was a year of strong recovery for exports, helping to sustain employment in Irish companies, Enterprise Ireland said. Among the companies that it supports, around 70 per cent of the losses sustained in export sales in 2009 was recovered this year.

New export sales among its clients will be in the order of €1 billion this year, it said.

Overall, the total number of people at work, including part-time positions, in Enterprise Ireland client companies was 156,577, a net decrease of more than 3,700 workers, or a 2.3 per cent drop.

The agency said this represented an “important stabilisation” in employment in the export sector.

Full-time employment in its client companies stood at 137,241 in 2010.

A total of 8,193 new jobs were created, with a net decline of 5,355.

Enterprise Ireland said the recovery of the food sector was “of particular importance” given its status as Ireland’s biggest indigenous industry.

Key investments such as the Danone infant formula factory in Macroom “give us great hope and confidence for the continued success” of what it said was a vital sector.

During 2010, Enterprise Ireland organised 165 events for client companies, including trade missions to markets such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, the US and Australia.

Some 86 Enterprise Ireland companies were approved for research and development (RD) funding in excess of €100,000. More than €30 million has been approved for RD in 2010 to date.

The year also saw the agency invest in more than 80 new high potential start-ups, which it said would “play a crucial role in job creation in the coming years”.