8 February 2000

NEW IDEAS WILL BRING ECONOMIC SUCCESS - EMPEY

"We must be receptive to new ideas and exploit these commercially if our economy is to be really successful," the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Sir Reg Empey, MLA, said today.

The Minister was speaking to more than 100 business people at the Vision 2020 Conference organised jointly by LEDU and the Northern Ireland Growth Challenge in association with Foresight Northern Ireland.

Sir Reg said: "We need to substantially raise our game on innovation and Research & Development, with greater university and business collaboration and more commercialisation of university research.

"It has to be said that historically Northern Ireland has not invested enough in R&D. We are therefore not as competitive as we should be."

Referring to published statistics the Minister said: "Expenditure on R&D in Northern Ireland at 0.5% of GDP is lower than elsewhere in the UK, ROI and many other parts of the world.

"What is needed is a solid commitment to innovation and R&D, high quality and industry focussed."

The Minister continued: "We have to attract our best talent into business as a career. Entrepreneurship must not be stifled – it must be encouraged, and there has to be an understanding that with entrepreneurship there has to be a greater acceptance of risk.

"There is no doubt that being receptive to new ideas and ensuring that we have the R&D and innovation infrastructure to support our indigenous businesses and potential inward investors, will help generate valuable new business.

"To support these businesses we must ensure that we have the physical infrastructure needed by a growing economy. Energy, telecommunications and transport links, internal and external must be as complete and efficient as we can make them.

"Finally, it is vital that the benefits of economic progress and growth are widely and fairly shared. Only if we do so can we achieve the sense of social cohesion and common purpose needed to achieve the economy we seek," the Minister added.

 

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Foresight is a UK-wide programme led by the DTI Office of Science and Technology. The Industrial Research and Technology Unit (IRTU) takes the lead in Northern Ireland. Foresight was launched in 1994 and aims to improve the competitiveness of the UK economy.

For further information contact : IRTU on 01846 623000.