Speech by Minister Micheal Martin at the Derry Chamber of Commerce Business Lunch

Monday, 6^th February, 2006

I am delighted to have this opportunity to join with the members and guests of the Derry Chamber of Commerce today for your first business lunch of 2006. I would like to thank your President, Richard Sterling and your Chief Executive, Janice Tracey, for inviting me here today. I am advised that the Derry Chamber of Commerce is over 120 years old and I commend you for the role the Chamber has played in furthering economic development both here in Derry and in the wider North West region. I know the Chamber is proactive in cross-border co-operation, which in my view is essential to the further economic development of this beautiful part of the island of Ireland.

I know that this Chamber is taking a positive approach in lobbying to improve the infrastructure of the North West region. I commend you for this, as it has always been my view that we must co-operate with each other, North and South, if we are to compete in an increasingly competitive global market.

I want to outline to you what the Irish and British Governments are doing to foster economic growth in the North West region. A unique opportunity now presents itself for the North West with the continued progress in the peace process and, in particular, the agreement at senior political level to work together to address the problems of the region on a North/South basis where that is appropriate. As you may be aware, my colleague the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern T.D. and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain M.P., announced last October the intention of the two Governments to work together to address the development of the entire North West region.

This work has now begun in earnest. A meeting of senior officials from North and South was held in Belfast on 17^th January to identify actions to maximise the potential of the region that could be taken forward on a North/South basis, with a particular focus on enterprise development, employment, skills and spatial planning /infrastructure. Significantly, this joint approach includes exploring ways of attracting inward investment and fostering the growth of the indigenous small business sector. My Department is represented on this group and a further meeting of the group is planned for 24^th of February.

Developing a new vision for the North West is a major undertaking that requires careful examination and consideration. Therefore we should not expect overnight conclusions from this group, as its work involves a new way of looking at all aspects of economic life in the region. The work of this group is important and I look forward to receiving its conclusions when completed.

There is of course very good North/South co-operation in this region to build upon. There are strong historic links between different areas in the region. There is good cross-border co-operation between local authorities and other agencies. There are excellent examples of North/South co-operation in key individual projects for the benefit of the region, such as the joint commitment to invest in the further development in the City of Derry Airport. IDA Ireland, in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland, is developing a Virtual Cross Border Technology Park incorporating business parks in Letterkenny and Derry City. A total of €10 million was approved under the INTERREG IIIa Ireland/Northern Ireland Programme, in December 2003.

The British-Irish InterGovernmental Conference, which met last week, acknowledged that we face many of the same economic challenges either side of the border in the North West of the island. The two Governments reiterated their commitment to explore ways in which they could more closely co-operate. The Governments welcomed the work now underway to identify potential interventions that might be undertaken on a North/South basis. It is clear form this endorsement by the two Governments that action on the development of the North West is now a key priority.

We share a small island facing major competitiveness challenges from globalisation. It therefore makes sense for business people across the island of Ireland to collaborate together as a means to improve the ability of their businesses to respond to the competitiveness challenge. Businesses, North and South, can obtain tangible benefits from such collaboration and I am pleased to say that there are many splendid examples facilitated by InterTradeIreland, the all-island trade and business development body.

The activities and programmes of InterTradeIreland are focussed upon building the competitiveness of the all-island economy to the mutual benefit of Ireland and Northern Ireland. InterTradeIreland believes that the deepening of economic and business linkages across the border is an untapped source of competitive advantage for businesses in both jurisdictions. At the core of InterTradeIreland's strategy is the drive to create collaborative North/South business networks, and to give those networks the tools to create value. The uptake by companies of InterTradeIreland's programmes is testament to their philosophy of collaborating to compete.

All-island business networks are allowing firms to share resources, gain knowledge and expertise, partner with research institutions, achieve economies of scale and open new market opportunities. The highly successful Network and Getwork programme is a partnership between InterTradeIreland and the Chambers movement, which match large buying organisations with SME suppliers across the island.

It was my great pleasure last month to be involved in a major trade mission to India, which was led by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, T.D. That mission was unique, in that for the first time, it included businesses from Northern Ireland. A total of thirteen organisations from the North participated and were involved in all aspects of the visit. In arranging the specific programme for these businesses, there was close co-operation with Invest Northern Ireland and the British High Commission Offices in India. I was very pleased that Invest Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, had very active and prominent roles in the week's events.

During the course of the trade mission many relationships were developed by the participants and a number of the Northern Ireland companies arranged firm contracts or agreements with Indian companies. I hope that these will be the start of a very fruitful relationship between businesses here and their trading partners in India. An era of close contact with the very important and promising Indian market seems assured.

The success of that trade mission has shown that it makes very good business sense to combine our efforts on such initiatives, where all parties can gain in developing new markets. The Irish Government would be very happy to work towards developing this partnership for similar trade initiatives in the future.

The science and technology agenda is another key area where we are focusing on the potential for enhanced North/South cooperation in developing a knowledge economy, North and South. With an issue so important to our international competitiveness, it makes perfect sense to take an all-island approach to research. Indeed, the new Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Strategy to 2013, which I hope to bring to Government shortly, has been developed very much on that basis.

The improved structures for coordination and governance of our STI policy, which the Government put in place from September 2004, have built-in capacity for greater cooperation with Northern colleagues and counterparts, leading to complementary policy development, greater coherence and exploitation of synergies to mutual advantage, and I want to see this taken forward.

I see a lot of potential for collaboration under the EU's forthcoming Framework Programme supporting research. We should each take maximum advantage of the fact that we have a ready partner on our doorstep.

The benefits of such partnership and collaboration in research are already bearing fruit in a unique agreement between Ireland, North and South, and the United States.

The three administrations have agreed to work together in a significant R&D Partnership focusing on a number of key strategic areas, including avian flu, diabetes, nanotechnology and cystic fibrosis. The first meeting of the Partnership has already taken place and the next meeting will be held in Washington in mid-March. InterTradeIreland, with its all-island remit, is playing a key facilitative role in this new initiative and hosted the first meeting at their headquarters in Newry.

We hope to see very positive and practical outcomes from this interaction, generating both enhanced economic benefit and well-being for all the citizens of the island. As a relatively small island, situated between the US and Europe, working together on the ever-changing R&D agenda is an opportunity for all of us to focus on geography instead of history and to exploit that geographical position to mutual advantage.

As referred to earlier the meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference last week was an important one and I am pleased to say that there was agreement on a number of significant initiatives to be taken forward. The Conference noted the scope for further practical co-operation on the development of an all-island economy and agreed that acomprehensive study should be undertaken to identify areas where future co-operation would deliver mutual benefits and examine how such co-operation might best be taken forward.

I welcome this initiative and I look forward to the commencement of this study which should prove invaluable to enhancing the all-island economy.

Later today, I will be launching the Electronics, Production and Innovation centre

(EPI Centre) Project, at the University of Ulster, Magee Campus. The main aims of this significant project are to build an innovation and technology transfer capability through the creation of an environment that will assist in developing a diverse and robust industrial base in the North West region. The centre will be used to focus on the development of a strong industrial research base through the integration of existing capabilities in the three tertiary level education providers in the region, namely, the University of Ulster at Magee Campus, The North West Institute of Further and Higher Education, Ballymena and the Letterkenny Institute of Technology.

This project will assist in the development and deployment of technolgy within the existing industrial base throughout the North West region. It is hoped that the project will act as a focal point for technology in the region and should help to attract new industry to further bolster the economic vibrancy of the North West region.

The Derry Chamber of Commerce has a pivotal part to play in supporting all of these developments in the North Wext region. I look forward to that support and I would like to conclude by thanking each of you for your kind attention.

ENDS

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