A £2.8 million joint venture is to provide up to 105 new jobs in Lisburn, Co Antrim over the next three years, the chairman of the North's Industrial Development Board said yesterday.

Dr Alan Gillespie was announcing the formation of a joint venture between Tech International of Johnstown, Ohio and the Aromet Group, of Lisburn. The new company, Eurotech Ltd, will make tyre and tube repair products for the European market.

The company will employ the 52 people currently employed by Aromet, a family-owned business which makes tyre and tube repair products for trucks, cars and cycles. Employment is projected to grow to 157 by 2001.

"I am delighted that Tech International, North America's largest and the world's second largest manufacturer of tyre repair products, has chosen Aromet, one of Northern Ireland's most progressive smaller companies, as a business partner for the manufacture and supply of an extensive range of products throughout Europe," Dr Gillespie said.

He said the joint venture provided Tech International with an established and successful European manufacturing operation. It provided Aromet with a tremendous opportunity to gain access to new products, manufacturing expertise and investment for the continued development of the Lisburn operation.

Tech International, formed as the Technical Rubber Co in 1939, is a privately-owned company which supplies more than 1,000 products to customers in 90 countries. Aromet was formed in 1991 and won the IDB Northern Ireland Exporter of the Year Award in 1996. It exports 80 per cent of its products outside the UK.