Invest NI blaze a trail to Asia Pacific

Invest NI is seeking to build on its recent involvement in the Business Summit in Washington with an investment campaign in the Asia Pacific region this week.

The campaign, in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, will be used to underline the importance placed by the economic development agency on proactively selling Northern Ireland as a location in which investors can operate effectively and profitably.

Existing companies in Northern Ireland from Asia Pacific will also be a feature of the campaign.

The team, led by Invest NI Chairman Professor Fabian Monds and Chief Executive Leslie Morrison, includes Leslie Ross, Managing Director, Business International. With a focus on technology, the team includes Professor John McCanny from Queen’s University and Professor Jim McLaughlin from the University of Ulster. The pair have travelled to promote Northern Ireland as a leader in cutting edge electronic technology, and as a centre of excellence in related areas of advanced research and design.

Professor Monds said: “Invest NI is working to ensure that Northern Ireland is positioned to benefit from the expected upturn in investment when economies in Asia Pacific and other target markets come out of recession. This campaign and our support for recent initiatives such as the business summit in Washington are examples of our commitment to promote Northern Ireland overseas and increase the level of inward investment and technology transfer.

“We have much to offer. Our economy is the fastest growing in the United Kingdom and has been consistently so for the past 10 years. In the five years to December 2001 our manufacturing productivity increased by 27.7% compared with 14.5% in the UK as a whole. Our workforce is young, well educated and IT literate and we can offer companies easy access to university expertise and facilities."

During the visits the delegation will meet with a number of high-level business contacts, key government officials and representatives of centres of excellence at universities.

Chief Executive of Invest NI, Leslie Morrison, acknowledged that the competition for investment has increased and would continue to intensify, but sees the role of Invest NI as ensuring that Northern Ireland is well placed to cater for the needs of companies from around the world.

He said: “The campaign will raise Northern Ireland’s profile in Asia particularly in the area of technological expertise and we hope will lead to some real and focussed possibilities for research and development collaboration as well as repositioning Northern Ireland for new inward investment.”

(SP)