US MISSION:NORTHERN IRELAND'S First Minister and Deputy First Minister have begun a week-long visit to the United States with meetings in Los Angeles with film and television executives and Silicon Valley high-tech entrepreneurs.
Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness delayed their trip twice on account of the killings of two British soldiers in Antrim and a PSNI officer in Craigavon.
They heard yesterday that a group of US technology entrepreneurs and venture capitalists will travel to Belfast in October to meet Irish technology companies. The Irish Technology Leadership Group facilitates links between US companies and technology firms in Ireland and will hold its annual conference in Belfast.
“Having taken an all-island approach since our foundation, we always envisaged taking the Silicon Valley initiative to Belfast as well as Dublin. With such strong support for our objectives from the Northern Ireland Executive, Invest NI and Queen’s University Belfast, we are now realising one of our key goals,” said the group’s chairman John Hartnett.
Mr Robinson said that, despite the global economic downturn, the US remained a key source of investment. “When Californian IT companies such as Cybersource and 3Par sought world-class talent to support their global business, they found it in Northern Ireland,” he said. “As an executive, we will continue to encourage decision-makers to be aware of the opportunities that Northern Ireland offers to improve their operations and innovate. We remain optimistic.”
Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness will be in Washington next week for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations which will include a reception at the White House. The recent violence has added urgency to their visit as they seek to assure US investors that the North is politically and economically stable.
Mr McGuinness said: “We are proud to present the very positive story of our software sector and to explore the potential for strategic relationships between Silicon Valley and Northern Ireland.”