Self-help the secret to attracting industry

REGIONS looking to attract industry have to stop whingeing about unemployment in their area, IDA boss Sean Dorgan said yesterday.

They have to drop their parochial attitude, club together and shape their own futures. Investors want to locate in an area which is forward-looking and progressive. Nobody wants to locate in a region branding itself a black spot, said Mr Dorgan. Firms don't want to associate their business with a run-down area and the IDA can't always be expected to do everything for a region, he said: "Black spot demands investment' is not a headline which will attract investors; in fact investors want to avoid black spots. Ambition and drive is displayed in an area by the initiatives which are taken locally to improve facilities, amenities and services.

"These, rather than complaints about 'neglect by government' are likely to have a positive effect. Lobbying for support or resources should be done privately," Mr Dorgan told an economic conference in Wexford organised by Waterford Institute of Technology. "Each region needs a city to lead it, a hub of attraction, a location with the investment in world-class infrastructure and services to be a magnet for the whole region. Around that hub perhaps for up to 40/50 kilometres in every direction the region can grow through attracting a wide range of enterprises, both local and international, which emerge because of the integrated competitive strengths of that region."