Selina Horshi says efforts must be redoubled to prioritise NW for investment

The Chamber of Commerce president was speaking at the organisation’s annual dinner at the weekend.

She said the NW city region had the potential to become a world class leader in areas like RegTech [regulatory technology], life sciences and advanced manufacturing - but it had to be given the tools to do the job.

The Chamber President welcomed the commitment by Invest NI to increase resources for sub-regional offices like Derry and bring forward an economic plan with clear targets to address the current imbalance.

“Our aim is to bring investment to this region that supports our people, our businesses and our economy. We warrant special consideration in the NW City Region – partly to redress the historical under investment and high deprivation levels here, but also to recognise the potential we have with the unique strengths of our border proximity, familiarity with multi-jurisdictional operating, the potential of our port, airport, growing university campus, emerging RegTech and life science clusters and our critical mass of population.

“We have worked hard to strengthen our relationship with Invest Northern Ireland, calling for clear targets for this area in terms of resourcing, job creation, job quality, and increased productivity and are pleased to see this feedback being taken on board in the Invest NI action plan published this week.

“We will fight for the opportunities to come here and will work in collaboration with Invest NI and other strategic city partners to ensure we make the strongest possible case for investment in the North West,” she said.