InterTradeIreland chief executive Liam Nellis wants to spread the word about new opportunities North and South, writes Francess McDonnell.
Politics and business do not mix, according to the chief executive of InterTradeIreland. The trade development body was born out of the Belfast Agreement; it answers to the North-South Ministerial Council but as far as Mr Liam Nellis is concerned the rationale behind InterTradeIreland is business driven.
He wants to get business people on both sides of the Border talking because he says they have more in common than they might think. "Our job is to create knowledge - we want businesses in Northern Ireland to learn about the opportunities in the South and we want people in the South to learn about business possibilities in the North.
"Our research shows us that in the past people often had the wrong impression of what it was like to do business North or South. InterTradeIreland is here to ensure that the right information and the right message get across.
"We have no political remit, we are here to do a job and that is to create better trade links," Mr Nellis said. In the past 12 months InterTradeIreland has brought together more than 1,500 key business people from across Northern Ireland and the South to discuss the key issues of the day.
"Before InterTradeIreland there was a real lack of business contact on the island, there was a good level of trade taking place but there was no real structure or forum for business to communicate with each other or to find out about the market in either jurisdiction. Business bodies on both sides of the Border, from IBEC to the Confederation of British Industry, have been saying for years that they wanted a body like this.
"What we are doing now is making an introduction for businesses and providing them with the right information to make informed decisions," he said.
He says that once people get talking to each other and once they have the facts to hand, then they can do business together. Mr Nellis has spent a lifetime creating the right environment for this, by establishing Ni-Co, a limited company set up by the Government to sell Northern Ireland public sector expertise and then with the North's Industrial Development Board across the world.
He believes InterTradeIreland's corporate strategy, officially launched today, shows where its objectives lie.
"Our role is to ensure that businesses and individuals have the information and the knowledge that they need to trade throughout the island.
"We are doing a different job than existing economic development agencies in the North and South because although we complement their work, we do not duplicate it in any way - we don't give out grants and we don't have client companies like LEDU or Enterprise Ireland," said Mr Nellis.
Instead he sees the body, which will only ever employ 40 people, as a catalyst to promoting business relationships North and South.
"Our corporate strategy revolves around increasing awareness and knowledge throughout the island of Ireland.
"We will do this by working with existing agencies and also by commissioning research, gathering information and promoting knowledge about key areas from supply chains to public procurement and e-commerce," Mr Nellis added.
He said the feedback from InterTradeIreland projects, such as Focus and Fusion, which brings businesses together with graduates and research organisations, demonstrates the demand from companies for knowledge.
"We want to remove trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the South, we want to help grow an all-island economy."
