W2C-008 Business Telegraph-4.txt
Batting for Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Partnership was set up by the Industrial Development Board in October 1983. Its first co-ordinator was Dr George Chambers, former chief executive of the Milk Marketing Board.

It is an international voluntary network of 850 business and professional people in Britain, the Continent, the United States, Canada and the Far East.

Some members are Ulster expatriates who have made the grade overseas. Others are business executives who have associations with the province, perhaps through education or family links.

The Partnership's primary aim is to encourage inward investment in the province. But more recently the emphasis has been on improving export potential for companies in the province.

Another aim is to counter bad publicity for Northern Ireland by emphasising the positive side of the province.

Members of the partnership have given a helping hand to several industrialists who have been attracted to the province.

One example is the automotive components plant set up by Ryobi at Carrickfergus. An Ulster academic based in the US urged the head of the Japanese company to consider Northern Ireland as a location.

Last year, the Belfast based mechanical and electrical engineers Rotary International secured a substantial contract in Japan thanks to a contact made by the Partnership.
