At the recent launch in Belfast of the new Collaborative Growth programme (worth £5.7 million over five years), the invited guests heard from Christian Ketels, a leading economist at Harvard Business School.

He said: “Value creation and innovation ultimately always occurs in companies. However, we increasingly see that their success is not only a function of their internal strengths but that it depends also on the partners they are connected with and on the business environment in which they operate.

Invest Northern Ireland’s Collaborative Growth programme is a promising piece in the puzzle to enhance the odds for Northern Ireland firms to succeed in competition, generating benefits both for them and for the Northern Ireland economy.”

Groups wanting to apply for the programme must consist of at least four Northern Ireland private-sector companies, of which one must be an Invest Northern Ireland client.

The companies should be involved in advanced manufacturing, digital or sustainable energy.