Northern Ireland’s political leaders will meet a carefully selected group of US industrialists in Washington tomorrow at an investment conference specially arranged by Hillary Clinton.
First Minister Peter Robinson said on his arrival in the American capital that the focus would be securely on jobs. “This conference will allow us to sell the Northern Ireland product directly to some of America’s most successful and best-known companies,” he said.
“The [Stormont] Executive said from a very early stage that attracting inward investment was vital to the Northern Irish economy and we have had some considerable success.”
Mr Robinson added: “I have no doubt that as a direct result of this conference we will forge a new set of relationships that will, in the months and years to come, see further significant investment.”
Martin McGuinness, the Deputy First Minister agreed, saying: “This conference will, I am sure, bear fruit and will have a long and lasting legacy that will benefit our economy and all our people equally.”
Mrs Clinton, US secretary of state, pledged to host an investment conference 12 months ago when she visited Belfast.
Since then, the US special economic envoy Declan Kelly has played a central organisational role. Yet this conference will be strikingly different from the large-scale and high profile conference staged in Belfast two years ago.
Tomorrow's event in the US State Department will have a guest list of under 100 of whom 16 are high ranking existing US businesspeople who have invested in Northern Ireland. They are scheduled to recount their experience of locating in the North.