The Industrial Development Board (IDB), Northern Ireland's industrial development agency, plans to generate 23,000 new job approvals in the three-year period to March 2001 under an ambitious new corporate plan.

This exceeds the previous three-year plan which envisaged 18,000 new jobs. Only 14,574 new jobs were created under that plan but the IDB has stressed that a further 6,911 jobs were "safeguarded".

The new target sees 18,000 new job approvals being created by externally-owned companies and 5,000 by locally-owned ventures. The IDB will spend £149 million sterling in grants during the first year. The allocations for the following two years have not yet been agreed but the projections assume unchanged levels. However, "any return to political instability, or a replay of troubled images on Northern Ireland across the world's media would have adverse implications for these targets", Dr Alan Gillespie, chairman of the IDB, has warned. Announcing the plan, he also told local businesses that they would have to embrace change and innovation to survive in today's rapidly changing global markets. The IDB has launched a new marketing drive and a new logo to drum up new business.

"We must seize the opportunity to get the message across that Northern Ireland means business," he said.

"The change in the political climate and the international focus on Northern Ireland gives IDB an unique platform to make a new and powerful impact on target audiences and export markets."

Dr Gillespie argued that the IDB now had an "unique window of opportunity" to tell global business leaders about the strength of the Northern Ireland economy and of the opportunities to establish profitable business.

The next two to three years, he added, would also see continued restructuring of Northern Ireland's traditional industrial base, with textiles, clothing, and food processing likely to become less dominant in terms of employment.

In common with IDA Ireland in the Republic, the IDB sees employment growth in electronics and telecommunications.

IDB's chief executive, Mr Bruce Robinson, noted that the growth in manufacturing output and employment in Northern Ireland had exceeded that of the UK as a whole while growth in manufacturing exports was also ahead.

Taking anticipated job losses into account, he forecast a net rise in employment in IDB client companies from the present 86,137 to 90,000 during the period of the plan.

Mr Robinson said that around 10,000 new jobs would be created but 6,000 redundancies would bring the net job increases down to some 4,000.

Turnover in IDB companies is expected to rise from £7.7 billion sterling to £9.8 billion and external sales from £5.8 billion to £7.7 billion. Mr Robinson said to achieve the ambitious targets and goals set in the plan, IDB's support would focus on projects which exhibited higher value added, greater profitability and sustainable employment.

"This means projects which set ambitious competitiveness targets benchmarked against international standards, and which have a strong commitment to innovation and research and development."