Governor John E. Baldacci led the first Trade Mission of his office to Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom from Oct. 18-25, 2003. The mission consisted of a delegation of 55 representatives of business, government and economic development organizations. The business delegation was comprised of companies from a variety of industry sectors including environmental technology, hospitality, information technology, precision manufacturing and seafood.

The Maine International Trade Center contracted matchmaking support services to the US and Foreign Commercial Service offices in London and Dublin, and worked in cooperation with Invest Northern Ireland as well as with the Governments of Derry and Coleraine for matchmaking in the Northwest region of Northern Ireland.