Northern Ireland's political leaders are meeting a carefully selected group of US industrialists in Washington today at an investment conference arranged by Hillary Clinton.
Efforts to attract US investment to Northern Ireland at the conference were boosted today by the announcement that 60 jobs were to be created.
As US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton prepared to open the event, it was confirmed the Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and Terex Corporation were investing in the North.
US economic envoy Declan Kelly welcomed the news and said it provided momentum for the Washington event, which is being attended by First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
The US-NI Economic Conference 2010 has been billed as evidence of the US government’s continuing support for the peace process.
Dow announced plans to establish a Dow Design and Modify Supply Chain Centre in Belfast - which is expected to create 25 new highly skilled jobs.
Terex announced plans to expand its existing operations in Northern Ireland by locating its European Global Business Services Centre in Dungannon, which is expected to create 35 new highly skilled jobs.
Elsewhere, Fujitsu has announced it would begin recruiting 50 staff at its managed IT services centre based in Timber Quay, Derry. Opened in August 2007, the site employs more than 150 staff in a range of IT roles.
Mr Robinson said on his arrival in the US capital that the focus would be securely on jobs. “This conference will allow us to sell the Northern Ireland product directly to some of America’s most successful and best-known companies,” he said.
“The [Stormont] Executive said from a very early stage that attracting inward investment was vital to the Northern Irish economy, and we have had some considerable success.” Mr Robinson added: “I have no doubt that as a direct result of this conference we will forge a new set of relationships that will, in the months and years to come, see further significant investment.”
Mr McGuinness agreed, saying: “This conference will, I am sure, bear fruit and will have a long and lasting legacy that will benefit our economy and all our people equally.” Mrs Clinton pledged to host such a conference 12 months ago when she visited Belfast.
Since then, Mr Kelly, the US special economic envoy, has played a central organisational role. Yet this conference will be strikingly different from the large-scale and high-profile conference staged in Belfast two years ago.
Today’s event in the US state department will have a guest list of under 100, of whom 16 are high-ranking US business people who have invested in Northern Ireland.
The conference is “highly targeted” at senior decision-makers in Fortune 500 companies. It will bring together executives from US companies who are established investors in Northern Ireland with companies who may be considering a new investment location.
Existing US investors will give first-hand details of their experiences in the North and explain why they chose it initially as an investment location. Mr Kelly said this primarily includes its people, location and cost structure.
He does not believe recent dissident activity in Derry will have any negative impact on how potential investors may view Northern Ireland at this time.
“American companies are looking at the pure cold business case. They are not looking at investing in Northern Ireland as a favour – it is if the business case adds up, and Northern Ireland is a very positive region,” he said.
Also present will be a number of business people from the North involved in a working group set up by the economic envoy to promote US and Northern Ireland business interests.
Additional reporting PA