Invest Northern Ireland has announced that its support for businesses in its 2016-17 financial year contributed towards almost £660 million of investment in the Northern Ireland economy and helped to support nearly 5,600 new jobs.
Speaking at the agency’s end-of-year briefing earlier this month, CEO Alastair Hamilton (pictured) said: “Our role is to help businesses grow, stimulating investment in our economy.
During 2016-17, our offers of support totalled £152 million, contributing to almost £660 million of investment in the Northern Ireland economy.
“I am also pleased to report that our support in previous years has helped to create jobs this year across a broad range of sectors, including agri-food, advanced engineering and manufacturing.
“We also significantly exceeded our R&D investment target, delivering £203 million of investment against a target of £100-170 million, due to a number of large R&D projects. We also saw a notable increase in investment by locally owned companies — £109 million, a 93% increase on the previous highest year.
“Not only is Northern Ireland’s export performance strong, it also exceeds growth levels elsewhere in the UK. We also continue to attract strong levels of inward investment, with 22 new companies choosing to locate in Northern Ireland during the year.”
Mark Ennis, chairman of the Invest NI board, said: “While our Programme for Government (PfG) is still in draft, we have decided to proceed with the development of our Business Strategy to provide clarity to businesses and staff. This provides a clear route to help deliver a strong, competitive and regionally balanced economy.
“Echoing the outcome-based approach of the draft PfG, we too are moving to outcome-based measurement of our performance, focusing on supporting businesses to increase sales, create jobs and invest in innovation and R&D.
“While we recognise that these targets may need to be revised once the Northern Ireland Executive’s priorities and final budgets are agreed, the Business Strategy will support the development of an innovative and creative society, where people can fulfil their potential, and help to create a place where people want to live and work, to visit and invest.”