INVEST NI, the North’s regional economic development agency, secured £686 million of new investment commitments in the 12 months to March, according to provisional figures to be published today.
The agency, which was heavily criticised in an independent review of economic development policy last year, said 6,575 jobs were either promoted or safeguarded in Northern Ireland as a result of its work in the last financial year.
Invest NI said its efforts had brought 4,300 new jobs to the North and helped retain 2,275 that might otherwise have gone elsewhere.
The latest figures show Invest NI offered £181 million in financial support packages to companies that made investment plans for the North during 2009 and 2010.
The agency’s year-on-year investment totals are down because in the previous financial year, it secured a record £500 million investment project from Bombardier Aerospace.
According to the agency’s end of year report for 2009/10, 93 per cent of financial support offers and 63 per cent of all support were made to locally owned businesses.
Despite the continuing downturn in the global investment climate, Invest NI secured 55 new employment-related inward investments from major overseas investors in the 12 months to March. These totalled £196 million and included projects from NYSE Technologies, Seagate and Norfolkline.
Stephen Kingon, Invest NI’s chairman, believes the agency delivered a strong performance in a “year of challenge and change”.
Mr Kingon said the agency had to adapt to ever-changing economic circumstances to provide support because of the impact of the downturn on companies with local operations.
Invest NI’s specific response to the downturn included 29 offers of support totalling £3.7 million through a short-term aid scheme. To date, £1.03 million has been paid out.
The Northern Ireland Executive has set a target of halving the North’s private sector productivity gap with the UK average by 2015. Mr Kingon said Invest NI’s work was central to achieving that goal.
