The Northern Ireland Assembly is expected to vote on the second step of the legislative process to create a new economic development agency in the North today.
The Industrial Development Bill will pass through its Second Stage in the Assembly despite the resignation of the First Minister, Mr David Trimble.
The Bill will pave the way for the creation of a new super-agency, Invest Northern Ireland, which will spearhead investment and economic development in the North.
Industry leaders feared last week that Mr Trimble's threatened resignation might have impacted on the timing of the Bill. However, senior industry sources have said that the Bill will be presented on schedule and that there will be business as usual.
Sir Reg Empey, the North's Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, who has stepped into a caretaker First Minister role following Mr Trimble's resignation, has said that it is vital that the Industrial Development Bill remains on schedule.
The new agency will be established in the first quarter of 2002 and recruitment is under way to find a chief executive who will lead the organisation.
The continued progress of the Bill through the Assembly has been viewed as a symbolic gesture by many business people in the North that there is a concerted effort to maintain normality in the face of the impending political crisis.
Members of the Group of 7, an umbrella organisation for key business bodies in Northern Ireland, said they believed that while the business of government continued at Stormont, there was some confidence that political stability could be maintained.
"We remain deeply concerned that a political vacuum will develop which in turn will have a major impact on business confidence in Northern Ireland. Recent surveys have shown that many investors believe the future of the Northern Ireland economy and the continued success of the Assembly are inextricably linked. "We would appeal to the political leaders of both communities to endeavour to find a solution to this latest impasse," a business representative said.
