The Department of Enterprise in the North has presented plans that include encouraging 6,000 business start-ups in Northern Ireland over the next three years. The Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment yesterday set out his department's strategic direction and highlighted what he termed a radical new way of working.

Sir Reg Empey said the priority was to secure a competitive economy for Northern Ireland, while the creation later this year of the umbrella economic development agency, Invest Northern Ireland, would place new emphasis on "innovation and sustainability".

The draft corporate plan for the department outlines what it sees as the major challenges ahead. It says Northern Ireland must strive to be more innovative and generate a higher rate of business start-ups, while accelerating the new spin- out firms from universities.

One target, which the department wants to achieve over the next three years, is to fund 120 high-tech spin-out firms and research-linked incubators in the North. The draft plan, now open to consultation until April, also highlights key policy areas, which the department will address over the next three years. These will deal with the North's energy and telecoms infrastructure and also examine the existing financial support mechanisms for business.

The ultimate goal, according to Sir Reg, is to support the sustainable development of the Northern economy by stimulating self-sufficient enterprise. But while the draft corporate plan sets the agenda for the next three years, it is clear from the latest Confederation of British Industry survey that manufacturers in the North are facing immediate problems.

The CBI says manufacturers in Northern Ireland are performing better than the rest of the UK, but that export orders have slumped. General business confidence has fallen in the last four months, and a further fall in employment is predicted over the next quarter.

"Expectations are at their most pessimistic in Northern Ireland since 1993; investment intentions in plant and machinery and buildings remain negative," says the CBI. But it has also found that total orders continue to perform better in the North than in other UK regions.