IT IS 2.15pm on the last day of the US/Northern Ireland Investment Conference and the North’s Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Nigel Dodds, has said most of his final goodbyes to a roll call of chief executives and visiting American dignitaries.
Mr Dodds has the quietly confident air of someone who knows he has achieved an objective. He is modestly upbeat but obviously delighted at the way the high stakes conference has been received.
It has been a non-stop 36 hours for the Minister who has hosted back to back receptions and sold Northern Ireland’s economic potential while still managing to play the role of a genial host to seriously influential American business people.
He has of course had the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and the regional economic development agency, Invest NI, to do the groundwork and plan the logistics, but Mr Dodds has, in essence, been the face of this conference.
When details of the event were first announced, Invest NI said it hoped to attract between 30-40 delegates.
There was concern that the dire economic climate in the US might impact on the goodwill which Northern Ireland enjoys from that side of the Atlantic.
But Mr Dodds believes the fact that in the end more than 100 senior US executives came to the North to attend the event is very positive.
“These are people who travel all over the world and the feedback we have got has been very complimentary. They have told us that they heard what they needed to hear, they got the information they needed and they got a rare opportunity to directly interact with the prime minister.
“It is not often you get the opportunity to sit down with the prime minister and the Irish prime minister, the first and deputy first ministers and get a chance to talk to them in a very relaxed and open and transparent way.”
Mr Dodds hopes the investment conference will help lay to rest what has often been referred to as the CNN effect – where despite the peace process US companies still relate sectarian unrest with Northern Ireland.
“I hope that for those people who came here for the first time, that their visit will help dispel any lingering negative doubts they might have about Northern Ireland and that they will leave with new perceptions.
“Senior executives and chief executives from companies like Nortel, Liberty Mutual took the time to come here and tell other US companies about their experiences in Northern Ireland and for me that’s the best possible salesperson to sell the potential of what we have to offer here,” Mr Dodds said.
He is hoping that the North can take advantage of some opportunities that the global economic downturn might present.
“We understand Northern Ireland does not operate in a bubble and we are very aware of all the challenges which the current economic situation creates but in terms of Northern Ireland we are in a position to offer investors a value proposition.
But Mr Dodds is not expecting overnight economic miracles from conference, he is warning people not to expect major multi-million pound investment announcements it in the short term.
“Business people recognise that there are economic cycles – there are downturns but there will also be an upturn eventually and that is what we are planning for – we are working at creating the opportunities that we will be able to realise, when the upturn comes around.”
Thirty six hours is a relatively small window to make a lasting impression on someone who you one day hope to persuade to invest millions of dollars in Northern Ireland.
But the chairman of Invest NI, Stephen Kingon, believes the conference was designed in a way to ensure potential American investors will take away both the investment message but also a feel-good impression of the North.
He believes the social element of the conference and the fact that the sun shone throughout the entire event will help create good, positive vibes about potential investment opportunities.
The conference organisers were determined to ensure the American visitors got five star treatment throughout the three-day event.
Receptions were meticulously organised, food and drink were of a very high standard and there were high profile lunch and dinner events at both Stormont and Hillsborough Castle designed to provide the Americans with a certain “wow” factor.
The hard sell, the access to politicians from the North, the UK and the Republic were sandwiched in between social events designed to show the new peaceful Northern Ireland in its very best light.
As a former managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Northern Ireland, Mr Kingon is better placed than most to understand the psyche of potential investors.
“There is still some negativity about Northern Ireland – there are still some misconceptions about what has been achieved here and we still need to push the message about political stability here.
“People who came to the investment conference could see what was happening here – listen to Ian Paisley, listen to Martin McGuinness, see what the reality is, see how peace is working and the impact of that cannot be underestimated,” said Mr Kingon.
Mr Kingon is keen to manage expectations about what the investment conference can deliver in the short term.
“This was a building block exercise, it is phase one in a series of steps that need to be taken in a war of attrition to win investment. There are not going to be any overnight successes from this conference.
“It takes on average up to two years from the first time you meet a company to work right through the process before you actually get the project,” he said.
