Belfast Briefing/Francess McDonnell:Government budgets are a little like going on a blind date. There is the anticipation factor, the excitement of the unknown and the potential that it could all turn out to be a big mistake.

The problem with blind dates and budgets is that you never really know what you are getting into. They may sound good, promise all the right things, but the devil is in the detail.

Today, the North's Finance Minister is due to unveil the final version of the Northern Ireland Executive's first budget. Peter Robinson is cast in the unlikely role of matchmaker as he attempts to marry many demands with a very limited pot of money.

His draft budget, first announced in October, has come under attack from various quarters, particularly from those campaigning for more money to be allocated to the Department of Health in the North.

There have been reports of rows behind closed doors at Stormont between various departments over the draft budget which places a strong emphasis on growing the economy. Robinson claims his maiden budget "comes with the proud stamp: Made in Northern Ireland."

But the reality is that very little is actually made in the North and that is one of the biggest challenges facing the Minister.

Northern Ireland needs new jobs to kick start the economy. In his draft budget, Robinson sets out ambitious targets to create more than 6,000 new highly-paid jobs in the North by 2011. But since his draft budget was first published barely four months ago, the North has been shedding jobs at an alarming rate.

There have been the big shocks from the likes of established investors such as US giant Seagate, which plans to axe 900 jobs, but there has been an incremental rise in small numbers of redundancies here and there.

Take, for example, Seagoe Technologies in Portadown. Yesterday it confirmed 40 jobs are to be axed at the factory, which manufactures storage heaters. And last week the Glenadden shirt factory in Derry basically announced it was shutting up shop. It plans to cut its workforce from 115 to just 30 people.

Forty job losses here and another 85 there are not in themselves a devastating blow to Northern Ireland's economy but they all add up to create a big problem. Latest statistics from the Department of Enterprise show the unemployment rate is creeping up in the North - it now stands at 4.3 per cent.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits is rising; there are now more than 23,600 receiving government help because they are out of work.

What the North urgently needs is an influx of new jobs such as those just created by Warner Chilcott. It has opened a £5 million drug delivery research facility in Larne - the first of its kind in the North. Up to 14 new research and development jobs will be created on this site.

It is not a huge amount and it will not make a dent in the unemployment statistics, but the investment will, as the North's Economy Minister, Nigel Dodds, has stated, "add value" to the local economy.

So how does Northern Ireland attract more jobs of this calibre and who is the best person to sell the North as an investment location?

Is it the Economy Minister? He is off on another trade mission next week, this time to India, to "strengthen investment, trade and tourism links". Indian companies currently employ more than 3,000 people in the North, and Invest Northern Ireland and the Department of Enterprise are keen to get the investment message about Northern Ireland out to more companies in the region.

Dodds says his visit to India will give him an opportunity to brief political and business leaders about the Executive's plans to drive economic growth in Northern Ireland.

He also believes it provides him with a chance to outline the North's advantages as a springboard for Indian companies who want to grow in Europe.

But surely the best people to sell the message about Northern Ireland as an investment location to potential Indian investors are those who have been there and done it? Some of the region's top companies are already major investors in Northern Ireland. Why does the Department of Enterprise not recruit some ambassadors from the likes of HCL or First Source and Polaris Software Lab to tell other companies about their successful experiences?

It would be unrealistic to imagine that successful business people would have the resources or probably the inclination to invest a lot of time in such an endeavour. But there is a certain degree of goodwill among many major investors to Northern Ireland and there must be some way the Executive could harness this to better sell the investment message to a global audience.

Northern Ireland does not just need written "testimonies" from existing investors. What it needs are enthusiastic ambassadors to work along side government agencies if it is to stand any chance of attracting the kind of new jobs that are going to make a difference.

Job creation is an essential element in providing the North's economy with a fighting chance. Without it, on future budget days Peter Robinson may well experience the kind of sinking feeling you get when your blind date fails to turn up.