First Minister Ian Paisley today thanked corporate America for its economic support for Northern Ireland.
Mr Paisley, who was addressing an event in Washington for prominent US business executives, hailed their backing for the Northern Ireland Investment conference taking place in Belfast next month.
He also thanked the Bush administration, the President’s special envoy to Northern Ireland, Ambassador Paula Dobriansky and Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, who had confirmed he would send a delegation to the conference.
First Minister Ian Paisley
“They have all shown remarkable commitment to the investment conference and to Northern Ireland,” he said.
The conference, Mr Paisley said, would put Northern Ireland firmly on the agenda for US investors.
“It will be a key landmark on the road towards the establishment of a modern dynamic economy which attracts increasing numbers of overseas investors and where our young people have the jobs and the career opportunities which allow them to stay in Northern Ireland,” he said.
Mr Paisley is scheduled to hold talks with Senator Edward Kennedy, Congressman Richard Neal, chairman of the Congressional Friends of Ireland, deputy secretary of state John Negroponte and US treasury undersecretary for international affairs David McCormick during his four-day visit to the US, which began yesterday.