New sub-regional economic plan to direct 65% of Invest NI investment outside Greater Belfast welcomed in Derry

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A new Sub-Regional Economic Plan published by Economy Minister Conor Murphy has stipulated 65 per cent of Invest NI’s investments should be directed outside of the Greater Belfast area in future.

The move has been welcomed by the Derry Chamber of Commerce.

President Greg McCann said: "Derry Chamber has long argued for the need for more bespoke economic action addressing regional balance and the publication of this plan is another step in the right direction.

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"The North West region has long been in need of this type of targeted economic intervention to tackle historical regional imbalance.

Economy Minister Conor MurphyEconomy Minister Conor Murphy
Economy Minister Conor Murphy

"The collaboration between Invest NI's North Western Regional Office, Derry City and Strabane Council, and local economic stakeholders should ensure that local voices play a role in the shaping of this plan.

"The announcement of regional property strategies will also play a key role in the unlocking of local property for economic development.

"The setting of concrete targets - such as 65 per cent of Invest NI investment being outside the Belfast Metropolitan Area within three years - will be further cause for confidence as it will give those of us invested in the delivery of regional balance a yardstick against which to measure our progress. We look forward to assisting in the implementation of the plan and seeing the North West continue to grow and reach its potential."

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Mr. Murphy said the plan signalled a new approach to economic development that emphasises local communities identifying their own priorities.

He explained: “Councils will be asked to establish partnerships, which bring together central government, the business community, universities and colleges, local enterprise agencies, and civil society.

"These Local Economic Partnerships will identify the main barriers to economic development and the priority interventions that will build the region’s value proposition. I intend to support these partnerships with dedicated funding of £45million over the next three years.”

The Minister outlined that Invest NI will put a new focus on regional balance and will be a driving force within Local Economic Partnerships.

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He said: "Staff numbers in the Invest NI Regional Offices will be increased by an initial 40%. These offices will assume responsibility for managing local clusters and businesses with a turnover of up to £2million.

"Property specialists will be recruited to develop land and property for business use. Invest NI Headquarters will support the Regional Offices, providing specialist advice and expertise."

The Minister added: “Invest NI will support this drive towards regional balance, and direct 65 per cent of its investments outside of the Greater Belfast area. Consequently, the whole of Invest NI, not just Regional Offices, will be reorientated towards developing local economies.”

Kieran Donoghue, CEO of Invest NI said: “I very much welcome the publication of the Minister’s Sub-Regional Economic plan and the key role of Invest NI within it.

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"We are committed to working in partnership with the Department for the Economy and other key stakeholders to support the achievement of the Minister’s policy priority of increased regional balance.

"Our forthcoming new three-year business strategy has made regional development a key objective and will provide further detail on our overall approach.”

The new report itself points to the persistence of regional economic imbalance.

"The employment rate (including students) in 2022 in Derry City & Strabane is 10 percentage points lower than Mid Ulster,” it states.

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It also highlights that labour productivity in Belfast is 31 per cent higher than in Derry City & Strabane.

Derry and Strabane, in fact, ranked worst of all eleven councils on labour productivity (output per filled job, 2022) and the Sub-Regional Employment Rate (including students 16-64).

It performed better on median wages (gross weekly pay by place of work, 2023) on which it ranked seventh of eleven councils and on greenhouse gas emissions (tonnes CO2e per capita, 2022), where it ranked eighth.

On a positive note ‘Causeway Coast & Glens, Derry City & Strabane, and Fermanagh & Omagh produce more renewable energy, and their export intensity is much higher than the peripheral councils’.

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The Sub-Regional Economic Plan states that the Department will establish a new Regional Balance Unit to work across DfE to ‘mainstream regional balance’ and claims that a ‘new direction of travel will be rooted in all we do’.

The Magee Taskforce to increase Ulster University’s Derry campus to 10,000 students is specifically cited in the new plan while it refers to participation in cross-government People & Places pilot schemes in both Derry and North Belfast to try to develop an ‘inclusive economy’.

Speaking in the Stormont Assembly on Tuesday, Mr. Murphy said: “Today, I am announcing a new strategic approach to economic development. It is an approach that is locally led and places regional balance at its heart.

"The need for greater regional balance is clear. Employment rates range from a high of 79.5 per cent in Mid and East Antrim to a low of 65.4 per cent in Derry City and Strabane. Productivity, a fundamental driver of overall living standards, is 31 per cent higher in Belfast than it is in Derry City and Strabane.”

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SDLP MLA Mark H. Durkan said: “We very much welcome the statement and the direction of travel outlined in it, particularly the setting of targets for Invest NI to promote regional balance.

"That is something that my party and people in my city have called for over many years. Something that is not mentioned in the statement but is certainly in the document is recognition of the role of further and higher education.

"The Magee task force has done sterling work. We need to grow numbers at Magee, not just to or up to 10,000 students but to at least 10,000 students. There should be no ceiling to our ambition.”

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