More business start ups needed says Minister

If Northern Ireland is expected to have a successful economy, more people need to set up in businesses.

This was the message from Enterprise Minister, Ian Pearson who was addressing members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, at their Annual Dinner in Belfast on Monday evening.

“New business formation is important in any economy, but particularly in Northern Ireland where the level of entrepreneurial activity is among the lowest in the UK," the Minister said.

“Together we can reverse that position and turn entrepreneurship into one of our strongest assets.

“Finance is, of course, a central element in stimulating enterprise and the wealth creating process. Venture capital activity is still less than half of what it should be based on our share of UK GDP and improving that position is a key priority for government.”

Turning to changes underway in the regulation of the accounting industry, Mr Pearson said: “Internationally agreed accounting standards will become compulsory for the consolidated accounts of publicly traded companies from January 2005.

“The Queen’s speech confirmed Government’s commitment to introduce the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Bill, designed to strengthen the current regulatory system and ensure investor confidence.

“For small companies there is also the potential for legislation to increase the current thresholds for disclosure and for increasing the requirement for audit to companies with a turnover of less than £5.6 million."

Concluding, the Minister said: “The Northern Ireland Economy has come a long way over the past few years. It has strong future growth potential. I am confident that if we continue to work in partnership we can ensure that it is the fastest growing region in the UK up to the end of this decade, and hopefully beyond."

(MB)