An American high-technology company is to set up a manufacturing facility in Belfast to manufacture a range of devices for medical companies in the US and Europe.

The investment, by CMA International of North Carolina, is expected to create 75 jobs over the next four years at its 15,000 square foot factory in the west of the city.

The CMA president, Mr Richard West, described the company as "a venture capital-funded, early-stage business focused on providing alliance manufacturing and value added services to the medical electronics industry". One its first projects is with Natus Medical in California, which makes devices designed to perform health screening tests for conditions such as hearing impairment in new-born babies.

"Alliance manufacturing is more than just a set of services," Mr West said. Detecting hearing problems in young babies makes a remarkable difference in their language abilities as they grow older."

CMA considered a number of European locations for this project, but Mr West said the reason the company chose Belfast was because it gave it access to what he called the worldclass expertise available at the Northern Ireland Bioengineering Centre (NIBEC) at the University of Ulster's campus at Jordanstown. The £2.5 million sterling investment is being supported by a grant of £700,000 from the IDB.