Strategic partnerships offer Northern Ireland companies a way of achieving faster and more profitable growth in global markets, according to the chairman of the International Fund for Ireland, Mr William McCarter.

Mr McCarter was speaking at the inception of the new Northern Ireland Partnership Programme (NIIP), an initiative being promoted by the IDB and the small business agency LEDU, with financial backing from the IFI.

The objective is to provide a means by which Northern Ireland companies can negotiate agreements with firms in their target markets in the US. These would be in areas such as technology transfer, joint manufacturing or marketing ventures, research and development, and by mergers and acquisitions.

The US was chosen because of the interest shown by Northern Ireland companies in doing business there, an interest demonstrated by the 26 companies taking part next week in an IDB trade mission to New York and Chicago.

"I have for years had a strong conviction that the promotion of business partnerships between the US and Ireland represented a major opportunity to encourage the growth of strong worthwhile business", Mr McCarter said.

Details of all the companies on the programme and their partnership requirements will be listed in a special site on the Internet, and will also be circulated to IDB offices and other business bodies and contacts around the world.

The presentation of the scheme included case studies presented by two companies with existing strategic alliances, Kilco Chemicals of Newtownabbey, and the Lisburn company Boomer Industries.

Boomer Industries makes patented plastic door frames for offices and mobile homes. Marketing director Mr Ken Boomer said that a strategic alliance with McGarry Consulting, a Dublin-based development company, had helped them to identify and secure significant orders in the US.

Kilco Chemicals managing director Mr Peter Donaldson said that his company, which makes food and farm hygiene products, had formed a strategic alliance over two years ago with Laporte plc, which enabled them to manufacture and market Laporte products in Ireland.

"In addition to being a good example of import substitution," Mr Donaldson said, "the agreement substantially increased our exports to the Republic , and, virtually overnight, made us the market leader in Ireland in hygiene products for the meat and poultry processing sectors."