It is not unusual at this time of year for Northern Ireland’s political leaders to be in the United States to promote the North as an investment location to potential investors against the back drop of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Today, First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will be at their most charming as they sell the attractions of Northern Ireland and what it has to offer not only investors but also policy and decision makers in Washington.
The visit may bear all the hallmarks of previous trips but this year it is very different.
First, it takes place without any immediate home-made political crisis in the background. It is Foster's first official visit to the White House as the First Minister. Not only that. Both she and McGuinness can officially beat the drum about the North's incoming rate of corporation tax.
Political leaders and government officials will be on a hard sell to get the message across about the potential of the North’s new 12.5 per cent lower rate which will come into effect in 2018.
Tax rates
Although there is growing debate in the US about American companies locating operations and investments abroad to take advantage of softer tax rates, that is not likely to detract from the intensive campaign to persuade investors, that, even with the uncertainty that Brexit might throw up, the North can still offer potential for investment and tax efficiency.
Foster and McGuinness were in New York yesterday, hammering home the message on corporation tax and it will be the same message in Washington DC and San Francisco during their four-day trip. As a former minister for enterprise, Foster is no stranger to making the sales pitch for the North.
She wants to get across on this trip that Northern Ireland has “a highly educated and talented work force which, combined with our low-cost base and the support we can provide for job creation, training, research and development, means we have a strong proposition”.
So far, nearly 180 American companies which today employ 24,000 people locally have bought into that vision.
The US is still the North’s number one foreign direct investor and McGuinness with his established track of blending rhetoric with nostalgia and wrapping it up in a promise to deliver is also a strong marketer. He is keen to remind America it has been a partner in building “peace and economic progress”.
“Our companies currently export just over £1 billion of goods to the US so their economic importance to the North of Ireland is colossal. US investment creating thousands of jobs benefits people, families and the entire community.
“The injection of cash stimulates additional opportunities within the local supply chain and leads to the expansion and growth of many home-grown businesses,” McGuinness says.
Latest statistics show that, since 2006, Invest NI has “promoted” 26,777 jobs through inward investment and secured £3.25 billion in planned inward investment.
Business and politics
McGuinness hopes to “strengthen existing business and political relationships at a senior level”. But the other reason why this trip is much more important is what is happening next at home.
According to research from the Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre the North may be enjoying a “finely balanced recovery” but it is over-reliant on consumer spending. There are also “significant global risks” to growth locally. The centre previously estimated a lower rate of corporation tax could create 32,000 additional jobs by 2030. Attracting new job-creating investment is a vital element to creating a more sustainable economic future in the North.
