Selling investment potential was reason for visit, writes Frances McDonnell.

THE BIG question for Northern Ireland's economy this week was: how much credibility does an Ulster Fry buy you in Washington DC?

The North's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Junior Minister Jeffrey Donaldson hosted the Northern Ireland Bureau's St Patrick's Day breakfast at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington last Monday.

Guests, including leading US business and political figures, had the opportunity to hear first hand from Ministers about the new investment opportunities that now await them in Northern Ireland.

Mr McGuinness and Mr Donaldson are not the only two ambassadors who have been promoting investment opportunities in the North this week in the US.

The Minister of Social Development, Margaret Ritchie and Irish Ministers have also played their part in the campaign to sell the new Northern Ireland to America.

The North's politicians were ostensibly in the US to take part in St Patrick's Day celebrations, but it was just a smokescreen for the real business at hand.

Over the past seven days, an extensive coast to coast marketing campaign has been under way to re-position the North in the hearts and minds of corporate America in advance of the US NI Investment Conference in May. Paul Bradley, the mayor of Buncrana and Drew Thompson, the mayor of Derry, travelled together with a major delegation to take part in a cross-Border, cross-party initiative in New Bedford in Massachusetts.

The aim of the visit is to promote business and cultural links between the communities of New Bedford, Derry and Buncrana.

But the real intention is to show the US that a mayor from the North and his counterpart on the other side of the Border can do business together.

Other picture-perfect photo opportunities like that of the North's Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment Nigel Dodds meeting software billionaire Bill Gates in Washington last week give the US an opportunity to rethink its perceptions of the North. The fact that the White House is more than happy to open its doors on St Patrick's Day to Mr McGuinness, Mr Donaldson and Ms Ritchie is a powerful reminder of just how much the North has come in from the cold.

But behind this apparent goodwill there remains the "CNN factor", which some in corporate America appear to still have trouble shaking off. Big US corporations are not "risk takers", but they are, as one senior US executive told me, "profit makers".

The legacy of CNN headlines, the powerful, violent images of the North tearing itself apart still linger, and there remains a credibility question about the North as an investment location. The question is not about what the North can offer a potential investor. On paper, that argument is already won - the North has the people, the locations, the infrastructure and the financial incentives to make it an attractive proposition.

What it does not have yet is the political track record to convince some wary investors that this time round, life is different and political leaders in Northern Ireland really do mean business.

That is where the "seeing is believing" school of thought comes into play when it comes to the US NI Investment Conference in Belfast. The North needs to attract the right kind of people to come and attend the conference.

There is concern in some circles that while large corporations may sign up to the event, they will only send regional managers to represent them, rather than the senior executives who actually make the investment decisions.

This is why politicians from the North, of all persuasions, have so eagerly embraced the opportunity during the St Patrick's Day celebrations to tell the US about what life is really like back home.

The conference is about more than just economics - it is about Northern Ireland's future.

The North desperately needs to attract new foreign investment and what the investment conference represents is a lifeline for the North's economy. No one is expecting potential investors to fly into the North with suitcases of dollars on May 8th and May 9th.

They are very welcome to do so, but no one in the North - whether they are a politician, a business leader, a teacher or a cleaner - has unrealistic expectations.

What they share, however, is a guarded optimism about what the future may now hold.

The business tempo has changed. Most people are generally upbeat, while they share the same concerns about the general slowdown in the UK economy and the global outlook. On a local level, confidence is strong.

The message from three of the largest business organisations in the North; the Institute of Directors, the Confederation of British Industry and the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce is the same when it comes to politics: "There are no major concerns".

What the North must do now is convince more people like New York mayor Michael Bloomberg to come in May to see for themselves exactly what the North has to offer. Apart from anything else, it will give them the chance to experience a real Ulster Fry in all its glory.