North's leaders to begin US investment drive

Stormont leaders are set for another stateside mission in search of potential investors.

First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will traverse the USA on their five day trip next week.

The ministers will initially travel to the west coast where they will meet a range of senior executives from the entertainment and technology industries, including representatives of the five major Hollywood film studios along with several other studios.

Before leaving Los Angeles they will also address the Southern California Chapter of the Irish Technology Leadership Group.

The ministers will then fly to Chicago to meet with a number of potential investors and city mayor Rahm Emanuel.

On the last day of their visit the leaders will travel to New York where they will officially open the New York offices of Newry based company, First Derivatives.

Mr Robinson said he hoped the mission would pay dividends.

"Over the past few years we have made a number of successful visits to the US that have culminated in a number of high profile companies investing in Northern Ireland, creating large numbers of value added jobs," said the DUP leader.

"Companies such as the New York Stock Exchange, Citi Bank, Dow Chemical, Terex, Universal and HBO have all chosen to invest in Northern Ireland after we met with them in the US.

"Over the course of this trip we will meet with a range of investors some of whom we believe are very close to making a substantial commitment to Northern Ireland and some investors who we are meeting for the first time.

"I have no doubt that in the months to come and as a result of this visit that we will see further investment in Northern Ireland by some of the companies we will meet next week."

Sinn Féin's Mr McGuinness added: "Our hope is that this visit will build on previous successful ventures to the United States. While these are challenging economic times we have been encouraged by the commitment of major global companies through their investments in the north of Ireland.

"Others have signalled a willingness to do business and in the course of this visit the First Minister and I will be promoting the north as a place to invest. We will also have the opportunity to pay tribute to the work of Brian Conlon and his team at First Derivates - one of the north's great success stories - when we officially open their new Manhattan offices."