The US/Northern Ireland investment conference scheduled for Belfast next May should be "a tightly-focused business event", according to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment in the powersharing executive, Nigel Dodds.
Announcing details of the event, which has been endorsed by US president Bush and will be attended by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Gordon Brown, Mr Dodds said it would begin with a reception on the evening of Wednesday, May 7th, and end on Friday, May 9th.
He was speaking prior to an "inward investment" visit by an American business delegation on Monday and Tuesday next, led by US special envoy on Northern Ireland, Paula Dobriansky.
The May conference was originally announced by the then-chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown, at the end of the St Andrews talks in May 2007.
"From the outset, the Northern Ireland Executive and US administration have been clear that the conference should be a tightly-focused business event, targeting between 30-50 CEOs and senior executives from US companies. Companies have been identified in specific market sectors that are considered to offer the best prospects for future inward investment in Northern Ireland," Mr Dodds said.
Sources in the executive told The Irish Times the conference was "not meant to be a big glitzy affair" but rather would attract three or four dozen companies with a serious interest in setting up in the North. It would not be a case of "investment tourism".
The outlook was hopeful, despite the downturn in the US economy, which was clearly "not helpful". Northern Ireland was being marketed as a "nearshore" for US companies seeking to penetrate the European market. The North offered a business environment with the same language, good industrial relations and a good location, but there was no question of a "begging-bowl" approach.
Proposals to cut Northern Ireland's corporation tax from 30 per cent to the 12.5 per cent level pertaining in the Republic were rejected in a report last December, prepared by Sir David Varney, a former senior British revenue official.
However, further consideration is being given to other ways in which the economy could be boosted and it is hoped a second Varney report will be ready in time for the conference, which will provide encouragement for would-be investors.
