Cross-Border trade at EUR500m

Cross-Border trade hit €500 million during the first three months of the year, all-island business development body Intertrade Ireland said yesterday.

The organisation's first quarterly monitor of cross-Border trade and production shows that in the quarter ended March 31st, North-South trade reached €500 million.

This was down from a peak of €700 million in the second quarter of 2001. The survey blames the decline on general economic conditions and the strengthening of the euro this year. However, it points out that cross-Border trade has almost doubled over the last 10 years.

The survey shows that the Republic accounted for 57 per cent of that trade. However, Intertrade Ireland said yesterday that the gap between the two jurisdictions is showing signs of narrowing. The monitor also reveals that manufacturing output in the South increased by 2.2 per cent between the first quarter of 2002 and the same period this year. The comparable figures for Northern Ireland show a decrease of 1.8 per cent.

The study follows a recent report which reconciled full-year all-Ireland trade for the first time. This showed that it was worth a total of €2.7 billion in 2002.

Trade in food, drink and tobacco accounted for the largest share of trade between the two jurisdictions at 32 per cent of the total. The Republic exports marginally more of these products to the North, than the North does to the Republic. The monitor covers a total of 12 sectors, including textiles, transport equipment, manufacturing, and rubber and plastic.

Intertrade Ireland is based in Newry, Co Down, and is one of six bodies established in 1998 under the Belfast Agreement. Its brief is to promote all-island trade. The monitor's findings are based on Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures.

Commenting on the findings yesterday, Intertrade Ireland's director of strategy, Mr Aidan Gough, said monitoring trends in the flow of trade between the North and the Republic was fundamental to creating awareness of the business opportunities on the island as a whole. He added that it would provide policymakers with a comparative of the two neighbouring economies.