US firms who love Ulster

US:NI Conference

Friday, May 09, 2008

By Robin Morton

After the buttering up came the hard sell and nothing was left to chance yesterday when it came to outlining the benefits of Northern Ireland as an investment location.

The delegations of 100-plus senior executives from American companies had been feted at a reception at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum on Wednesday night.

But yesterday it was down to business at the BBC Blackstaff studio in Belfast with Executive Ministers and Invest NI personnel underlining the attractions on offer in Northern Ireland.

But the most persuasive salespeople turned out to be the North Americans themselves — the representatives of companies which have already located here.

One by one, they presented a compelling case as to why their compatriots should follow suit and consider Northern Ireland for their next big expansion.

Mike Zafirovski, CEO of Canadian company Nortel, which employs 600 at its centre at Monkstown in Newtownabbey, was unstinting in his praise.

He said Nortel, which first came to Northern Ireland in 1990, now used Monkstown as its supply chain centre for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

He told delegates that the benefits included government support and a helpful regulatory landscape. He also lavished praise on the Nortel workforce in Northern Ireland, and said that a skilled and well educated workforce was available to other investors.

Bill Rohner, executive vice-president of Caterpillar, the American company which owns FG Wilson in Larne, had a similar story.

He said the company, which now also operates units at Monkstown and in Belfast, said its Northern Ireland operation had set a new benchmark for the company worldwide.

Singing from the same hymn sheet were executives from Allstate, Citi, Seagate and Liberty Mutual, all of which have operations in the province.

Economy Minister Nigel Dodds said the Executive was keen to facilitate American investment.

He said: "Northern Ireland has come a long way in the past 10 years, economically, socially and politically, as the foundations of a more confident Northern Ireland are being laid.

"Our economy is transitioning successfully towards tradeable services and niche manufacturing.

"While we can compete in areas of niche manufacturing, in the past 10 years, Northern Ireland has developed a growing reputation to develop software for telecoms, to locate financial services and business applications and increasingly, to undertake sophisticated financial processing, including funds management."