Economy has made impressive improvements says Trimble

Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble has delivered the Annual Lecture to the Institute of Directors in London.

Reviewing the prospects for the local economy in the province Mr Trimble delivered an up-beat assessment of Northern Ireland’s political prospects. He said: “The process towards achieving political stability has enhanced the economic circumstances enjoyed by the people of Northern Ireland and there have been impressive improvements over recent years which are worth noting.

"The numbers of employee jobs has grown by 10.2 per cent since December 1996 with unemployment levels falling to 6.3 per cent, below the EU average and well below our peak levels of almost 17 per cent, which were commonplace in the mid-1980s.

“Manufacturing output has also grown well ahead of the UK average. Over the last five years, for instance, output in Northern Ireland increased by 24.9 per cent. Although we still lag behind the rest of the UK in terms of the GDP per head the gap has been narrowing, the 10 years between 1989 and 1999 saw real GDP per head increase by 22.6 per cent in Northern Ireland compared to 18.2 per cent for the UK as a whole.

“In 1999/00 almost 40 per cent or £4billion of all manufacturing sales in Northern Ireland were exports. An estimated 77,000 jobs are dependent on sales outside Northern Ireland. Of these sales 46 per cent go to the GB. The USA is the largest single market for all Northern Ireland goods outside the UK with goods to the value of close on £1 billion being exported there."

Mr Trimble added that whilst these figures were encouraging there was much more work to be done.

He continued: "The attraction of further investment here is one of our top priorities and within our Programme for Government we have committed ourselves to securing a competitive economy as a means towards achieving a cohesive, inclusive and just society.

“Invest Northern Ireland, a new agency dedicated to attracting investment and jobs was launched earlier this month and it will have an important role to play not only in assisting local businesses but also in attracting further Foreign Direct Investment to Northern Ireland. FDI plays a significant role within the Northern Ireland economy with some 10 per cent of our workforce employed within the 500 foreign-owned businesses which operate in Northern Ireland."

Mr Trimble concluded by saying that investment levels could benefit over time as progress on the political front was inextricably linked to growth on the economic front. (MB)