Open for Business/Northern Ireland:  'Investment goes where, (a): it is wanted; (b): where it is safe; and (c): where it is profitable. Northern Ireland just doesn't meet any of the criteria that would make B possible."

That was the stark message delivered to Stephen Kingon at the height of the Troubles when he was trying to persuade the chief executive of a large company that he should look at the North as an investment location.

The chief executive decided to locate his investment elsewhere, a frustrating experience that was unfortunately not a one-off as far as Kingon - or Northern Ireland - was concerned.

Kingon has been talking business in the North for longer than he cares to think about. He is chairman of the Northern Ireland Centre for Competitiveness; a past president of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and past chairman of Business in the Community in Northern Ireland, the Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants, and the Institute of Management Consultancy in Northern Ireland.

In short there is nothing about doing business in Northern Ireland that he does not know about.

For decades he was on what appeared to be something of a personal mission to sell the benefits of the North as an investment location to any unwitting chief executives or managing directors who might just happen to stray on to his path.

The peace process has transformed the economic landscape and Kingon is no longer simply playing an informal role as an investment ambassador for the North.

Two years ago he was appointed chairman of the regional economic development agency, Invest Northern Ireland.

Last year a report showed the number of jobs created by the agency between 2002 and 2005 was outstripped by the number of jobs being lost by companies it supported with financial incentives.

More than 700 foreign-owned companies and firms from the Republic and the United Kingdom operate in the North. In 2006 foreign investors created nearly 3,500 jobs and, according to figures from Invest Northern Ireland, committed more than €371,000 of new investment every working day.

With the new political structures in place, Kingon now believes Northern Ireland can give any other region or country a run for its money when it comes to investment locations.

He says Invest Northern Ireland is looking at the strategy of how it attracts new investment. "We know we need to change the traditional approach - we have a new political environment in place. It changes the playing field and we are selling a completely different product."

Kingon says he always believed political stability was a prerequisite for economic growth. Now the right political structure is in place, it is time to start work on rebuilding the economy.

"The economy is up there on the political agenda, it's a key priority and if anything reflects the changed times, that is it. In the past you would rarely have seen economic issues on a political party's manifesto but growing the economy is now one of the things different political parties agree on."

The one issue everyone does not agree on in Northern Ireland is the perennial question about corporation tax. The UK rate is 28 per cent compared to 12.5 per cent in the Republic.

A major campaign is under way to persuade the new UK chancellor, Alistair Darling, that Northern Ireland should be made a special region and enjoy a different corporation tax rate from the rest of the UK.

Some believe it may happen; others say this line of thinking is fanciful.

Kingon believes Northern Ireland has another attribute to attract investors: "We have a big talent pool, we've got the people, we've got the skill sets but we are not going to compete on costs. We are competitive, we have a lot to offer but for certain types corporation tax is always going to be a problem."

Business leaders such as the chief executive and managing director of Titanic Quarter Limited, Mike Smith, believes corporation tax is a major stumbling block to attracting new investment.

"It is one of the questions I am always asked by investors and it would mean such a difference to Northern Ireland. It would be a major investment incentive if we could get the rate lowered because it simply means we could compete and offer investors the same benefits that they get in the south of Ireland."

The chairman of the Institute of Directors, Frank Bryan, believes Northern Ireland must attract new value-added jobs if it is going to rebuild the economy. One way to do this, he argues, is by creating incentives for companies to come and invest.

"The government needs to find a way to resolve the significant disadvantage that the current rate of corporation tax places us under."

But Kingon also believes that one of the ways to attract new investment is by encouraging international companies to ditch their perceptions about Northern Ireland.

"There are a lot of positives about Northern Ireland, we already have a lot of success stories - a lot of businesses succeeded here in spite of the political problems.

"If you really want to know what it is like to do business here, then come and talk to the people who are doing exactly just that - they're the best testimony that anyone could ever hope for. My message is come and have a look for yourself."

If anything typifies the message that Northern Ireland is definitely open for business, it is Belfast City Council. It decided to get a march not only on the competition outside the North but also on its fellow councils by trying to woo potential investors to Belfast ahead of anywhere else.

Invest Northern Ireland promotes the entire region - officially Belfast City Council works in partnership with the agency but it is also determined to put the city first on every investor's agenda. It is now offering dedicated fact-finding visits during which potential investors meet the likes of financiers, business support agencies and business leaders.

It is not exactly a hard-sell in the city described by the Lonely Planet guide as "hip, historical, happening". On an investor tour you will see the very best it has to offer from the world-class conference facility, to the Waterfront Hall and the Odyssey leisure complex.

You will also learn that: "As the capital of Northern Ireland, Belfast is the economic, transport and political centre of the country with the largest port in Ireland, two airports, an advanced ICT infrastructure and two major universities."

A stroll around the Belfast will leave potential investors in no doubt that this is a city evolving before their very eyes.

One of the biggest physical changes taking place at the moment is the €475 million new retail centre being developed in the heart of the city centre. Victoria Square is one the largest urban regeneration projects being built in Europe.

Although it could be argued that the last thing Belfast needs is another shopping development - the region has a high preponderance of retail jobs - it is testimony to new investor confidence in the city as companies such as House of Fraser will locate in the North for the first time.

Emerging above Victoria Square is also a new landmark in the city's skyline - a 35m diameter glass dome which, when complete, will give people an incredible view of the city below them.

Ironically, just yards away from the new development is the former site of the Industrial Development Board, an earlier regional economic development agency which tried hard to sell Northern Ireland as an investment location during its darkest days.

If the scores of potential investors who walked through its doors and never came back had had a glimpse of the future from the glass dome, perhaps the North would have a very different economy to the one it has today.