The theme of the summit was “Harnessing AI to Revolutionise Europe’s Competitiveness”.  As one of the flagship events of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the official launch of European AI Innovation Month, the Summit brought together senior policymakers, global business leaders, and AI innovators to explore how artificial intelligence can drive growth, productivity and competitiveness across Europe and beyond.

Joe Powell CEO, Abrel, had the pleasure of engaging and connecting with other delegates and exhibitors from government, industry and academia in the Innovation Spotlight Exhibition.

The event was heavily publicised in both the mainstream media and also through various social media channels. Further information can be found on International AI Summit.

Joe Powell, CEO Abrel, had the pleasure of meeting and connecting with many Irish and visiting dignitaries and contacts in the SEAN market, including representatives from Asia Matters, Mr. Alan Hobbs, Director of Asia Pacific, EI, Mr. Willian Hanbury-Tenison, the Assistant Dean of UL, (Associate Professor Angela Farrell), Minister and Consul General Philippines, (Mr. Eric. R. Aquino), Ambassador of Malaysia, (H.E. Ms. Sharon Ho Swee Peng), and Ambassador of Vietnam, (Mr. Pham Toan Thang) and Ambassador of Korea.

The event, which brought together the communities and friends from across Southeast Asia in Ireland, was a fantastic celebration of friendship, culture and connection.  We look forward to establishing mutually beneficial partnerships and collaborations in the future.

Abrel were delighted to attend the Vin D’Honneur following the presentation of the Letters of Credence by H.E. Mr. Nadhavathna Krishnamra, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand in London to H.E. Mrs. Catherine Connolly, President of Ireland at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin.

The Vin D’Honneur was held on Thursday 25^th June at the Anantara the Marker hotel in Dublin.  In attendance at the event were many representatives from business and other dignitaries including a representative from the Irish Department for Tourism and Trade and the newly appointed Ambassador of Thailand for Ireland, Ms. Nora Delaney, who takes up her position in August this year.

The event offered Abrel an opportunity to highlight its products and services and to establish and enhance mutually beneficial relationships with officials and others doing business in the Thai market.

In addition, Abrel Engineers carried out a number of successful installations of Abrel’s Endzone Burn-in Systems, onsite at customer locations in Canada.  The installations were fully completed on time, to the Customers Satisfaction and met all relevant quality standards required for the Semiconductor Industry.

Overall Abrel had a very successful visit to the US and Canadian Market.  Future collaborative projects were discussed in great detail and planned for the year ahead.

 2 Burn-in system solutions, designed, built, installed and certified by the Abrel Team.

The MIDAS Skillnet report from 2021 on, “Electronics Sector Resources & Skills Needs “identified a need for talent across a broad spectrum of technical skills”. The report was compiled based on the results of a survey on future resource and skills needs conducted across 68 companies in the Irish electronics sector, the majority of whom agreed that “future trends in electronics will have the effect of increasing hiring needs, and considered that future trends will require skill levels to improve a lot or a great deal”

The most recent Government report in “Ireland’s National Semiconductor Strategy” compiled from the Deloitte survey, states that ‘Ireland’s talent market remains highly competitive with recruiters continuing to have difficulty in hiring for certain roles, particularly across science, engineering, and technology’.  It goes on to state that in order ‘to facilitate projected growth in semiconductor output, Deloitte predicts that the global semiconductor workforce, estimated at 2 million in 2021, will need to grow to 3 million by 2030, adding approximately 100,000 annually”.

With all these predictions of future explosive growth in the sector we need to put measures in place to ensure the supply of a suitably qualified and readily available talent pool. This meeting and networking forum event launched new and innovative ideas on addressing the skill shortages that businesses are currently experiencing.

We are looking forward to working with high profile semiconductor businesses and universities on supporting this journey especially in the rollout of upcoming CPD Modules from MIDAS Skillnet.

“The event and network opportunities arising from same could not occur without the great work being carried out in the background by the combined efforts of Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Embassy”. “The endorsement they provide to Abrel and the continued backing they offer my Irish Business is absolutely fantastic.”

“A special thanks to both Mr. Pat O’ Riordan and Mr. Robert Kiely, from Enterprise Ireland for their endless ongoing support and help in relation to growing my business in the SEAN market and for organising this invitation on behalf of Abrel in Manila Philippines. It was a pleasure for the Abrel team to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with you all”.

“The hospitality shown to Abrel and the on-going assistance being provided by all parties is greatly appreciated and we look forward to developing further new business opportunities in this region”.

“The evening was great opportunity to meet people and yielded great networking connections for Abrel in Manila, the Philippines and further afield.  A big thanks to all for facilitating and organising such a wonderful event, it makes us all extremely proud to be Irish and doing business in this great part of the world of Asia”, says Joe Powell, CEO Abrel.

In conjunction with this event, Joe took the opportunity to visit new and existing customers in this market to outline new and exciting product developments being currently worked at Abrel.

“This kind invitation from the Ambassador of Ireland to Thailand Mr. Pat Bourne and Mrs. Sonali Rajasingham Bourne was greatly appreciated”.

“The event and networking opportunity could not occur without the great work being carried out by Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Embassy in the background, the continued support and assistance they have provided and continue to offer my Irish Business is absolutely fantastic.  A special thanks Mr. Pat O’ Riordan and Mr. Robert Kiely, from Enterprise Ireland for the endless ongoing support they have shown in relation to growing my Irish Business in the SEAN market”.

“It was a pleasure celebrating the St. Patrick’s Day event with you all along with the Minister of state, Mr Charlie McConlogue TD.  It was both a great evening and opportunity to meet people in conjunction with building networking connections for Abrel in Thailand and further afield”.

“A big thanks to all for facilitating, organising and running such a wonderful event, it makes us all extremely honoured to be Irish and doing business in this great part of the world.” says Joe Powell, CEO Abrel.

A special thank you to Ambassador Mr. Pat Bourne and team for their kind words following the event to the Abrel team.  We look forward to continue to work with you in growing our business in the SEAN.

We are looking forward with anticipation to what 2026 brings……

ASEMEP is a networking committee under SEIPI, the association of Semiconductor Electronics Industries in the Philippines.

SEIPI, the leading organization of multinational and Filipino-owned semiconductor and electronics companies in the Philippines has over 380 members, including manufacturing firms, allied and support industries, and the academe. The Philippine semiconductor and electronics industry is a significant driver of the Philippine economy and the largest contributor to the country’s manufacturing sector.

In 2024, the industry accounted for US$ 42.74 billion, or 58.4%, of the country’s total exports and employs over 3 million direct and indirect workers. SEIPI’s vision for the Philippines is to improve its competitiveness as a business environment for semiconductors and electronics technologies in the global market. SEIPI carries out its mission through TRAINS, namely Training, Roadmap/R&D, Advocacies, Information, Networking, and Services.

Abrel’s CEO and owner Joe Powell, has the great honor of appearing as Guest Speaker at this prestigious event, delivering a presentation entitled ‘Semiconductor Burn-in Global Landscape: Transition from Current Technology to Future Burn-in Technology with AI’

Whilst Abrel didn’t take home an award this time, being nominated put us in the company of some of the best companies in Ireland and we are proud to be recognised among such strong talent. We have learned a lot through this experience and have built valuable connections which is a win for us. The response to our work by Asia Matters, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA has been incredibly encouraging……….

We are just getting started.