IDB chairman Dr Alan Gillespie has said that local companies are facing strong pressures resulting from increasing global competition, but he said that by working together with elected representatives and local communities, the agency could help Northern Ireland to achieve economic success in a year which marks a new beginning for the entire community. "My fundamental confidence in Northern Ireland's ability to move towards a better economic future was demonstrated by the success of last year's 11-city tour of north America," he said.

However, Dr Gillespie warned that turning these contacts into eventual investment projects would take time, and would be influenced by economic developments in other parts of the world, as well as by the introduction of the euro.