Invest Northern Ireland (www.investni.com/) announced that it is to establish a presence in Chile to help Northern Ireland businesses ‘grow’ their exports to South America.

This was announced as CEO Alastair Hamilton completed a five-day visit trade mission to Colombia, Peru and Chile.

He said: “As part of the new International Trade Plan announced by the Northern Ireland Assembly, Invest NI is expanding its overseas network in up to 10 new locations around the world.

“Appointing a regional manager to be based in the British Embassy in Chile is the first of these expansions. The new role will involve working pro-actively with — and providing advice to — Northern Ireland companies to help them ‘grow’ their exports to South America, as well as identifying potential investors.

“It will also involve helping our schools, Further Education colleges and universities to attract more students to study in Northern Ireland.”