Caterpillar To Create 200 Belfast Jobs

200 new jobs are to be created in west Belfast by industrial manufacturer Caterpillar.

The move follows investment from Invest Northern Ireland to the tune of £1.275m.

The Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) has also offered training support of £440,000 under its Assured Skills programme.

The firm already has a presence in Belfast, Newtownabbey and Larne following its acquisition of local engineering firm FG Wilson in 1999.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster and Employment & Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry made the announcement.

Arlene Foster said: "This is a very positive announcement for Caterpillar, which demonstrates confidence in the Northern Ireland proposition at a time of increasing competitiveness in global markets.

"Last year, Invest NI’s Alastair Hamilton and I travelled to the US and met with Caterpillar senior management to specifically discuss the company’s future plans in Northern Ireland. This investment project was discussed as part of that meeting. Since, then the team at Invest NI has worked tirelessly to secure the shared services positions for Northern Ireland and ensure that they were not lost to other potential locations in Europe."

Dr Stephen Farry said: "This investment by Caterpillar demonstrates confidence in our local skills base and will offer important employment and training opportunities in a variety of key business areas including finance and human resources. The flexibility that my Department’s Assured Skills programme offers to companies like Caterpillar gives Northern Ireland an edge when competing with other regions. Assured Skills funding will ensure that the company has the support necessary for essential training initiatives and skills development activities."

Robert Kennedy, Caterpillar Northern Ireland Operations Director said: "As a global company, Caterpillar has to regularly evaluate key areas of business in order to remain internationally competitive. With the support from Invest NI and the government departments as well as the availability of key, essential skills in the professional shared services area, we are pleased to announce Northern Ireland as the location of choice for this expansion of services."

Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey has welcomed the announcement.

The West Belfast MP said: "This is welcome news for west Belfast. The creation of jobs is always good news but especially so in this current economic climate.

"The area has suffered from decades of economic neglect and discrimination and the recent redundancies at FG Wilson where a further blow.

"There are many of us trying to secure investment in west Belfast and we will continue to lobby for greater investment in the area."

(IT)