The design industry has the potential to generate 2,000 extra jobs and increase exports to £100 million by 2003, if certain measures are taken, a new report has found.

The report, commissioned by Enterprise Ireland and carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers, says the industry's annual sales could be increased from the present £220 million to £500 million per annum. Exports could increase from £38 million to £100 million. It says this extra activity would increase employment from 3,700 to 5,700.

The Minister of State for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt, said all Irish enterprise could benefit through increased awareness and use of design. He said design provides companies with a sustainable competitive advantage through product differentiation, market segmentation, more efficient production techniques and brand extensions. Mr Kitt said many of our European counterparts have already recognised the importance of design to the overall development of industry and have begun national initiatives aimed at developing their design sectors.

Mr Kitt said the study had identified ambitious but achievable targets for the Irish design industry. He added that Enterprise Ireland had developed a number of initiatives in response to some of the report's recommendations to help the sector achieve the targets.

The report identified several barriers to the sector's growth. These include a general lack of awareness in the business community of the "value added case for design", the industry's fragmented structure and poor international marketing.

"The initiatives being put forward by Enterprise Ireland will address these issues in overcoming the barriers to growth," said Mr Kitt.