BELFAST BRIEFING:Despite being realistic about challenges, there is nothing new about latest strategy, writes FRANCESS McDONNELL

ANYONE HAVE ideas about how to resuscitate the North’s economy? Minister for Enterprise Arlene Foster is eager to hear from you this week.

Foster and her friends in the ESE club – or the snappily named Executive Subcommittee on the Economy – want to hear fro everyone on what they think the “priorities” should be to devise a new economic strategy for Northern Ireland.

Given what is going on in the economy – from dramatic falls in private sector business activity to the growing problem of unemployment – someone might be tempted to suggest the combination of “magician and hat” might be the only strategy worth considering.

But Foster and her ESE colleagues (which include the Ministers for Employment, Education, Finance, Regional Development and the junior ministers from the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister) have given it serious thought.

Last week, they published proposals on what they think a new strategy should look like. On first impressions, it is not likely to feature on the bestsellers list. The 33-page Consultation on Priorities for Sustainable Growth and Prosperity document kicks off by listing the reasons why other “numerous strategy documents on the Northern Ireland economy” did not work in the past.

But the team claims this document is different because this time round, they are working together. There is no doubt that all involved want to create a “single coherent plan for economic development”, but the “I have a dream” approach may not work in this instance.

The paper is realistic about the challenges the North faces from “fiscal consolidation” across the UK to the “severity of the recession in the Republic”.

According to Foster and her colleagues, any strategy must tackle the “rebalancing of the Northern Ireland economy over the longer term while taking immediate steps to rebuild the economy after the recession”.

There is nothing particularly new in that approach or in the fact that ESE members believe the way to do this is to drive “export-led economic growth”.

The document states that encouraging exports and supporting firms to do more business outside the North is the way forward. They believe that if more companies in the North gain access to larger, sophisticated markets, it would create growth opportunities.One company that knows how local firms can help resuscitate the economy by creating a demand for its products is HeartSine Technologies. The Belfast company, which has just announced a £2 million investment in life-saving research, has a global client list which would be the envy of a multinational corporation.

HeartSine is a small firm with around 50 employees, but is a global leader in the development of cardiac emergency services. Its key customers include the White House, Nasa and the European Parliament.

HeartSine, established in 1997, designs, develops and manufactures automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Its technology and innovation is based on a strong track record in the field of emergency cardiac devices that began in the 1960s in Belfast. Chief technology officer Prof John Anderson played a pivotal role in developing the world’s first mobile coronary care unit and the first portable defibrillators. Today HeartSine products are used to save lives in more than 32 countries every day.

According to Prof Anderson, its success stems from the fact that it concentrates on its strengths.

“Our focus has been on developing highly portable and easy to use devices” he said.

The company is expanding its range with the development of “next-generation” smart AEDs, which Prof Anderson believes will create new opportunities.

“We’ve addressed one of the key issues of how, when and where to carry our cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR] in emergency situations.”

Foster should take note. A new economic strategy may provide CPR to the North’s ailing economy – but will it be enough?