Lyons announces major business showcase event for Northern Ireland

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has announced that he will host a major showcase event for Northern Ireland business next week.

The Northern Ireland Showcase, which will be attended by businesses and stakeholders, will take place at the International Conference Centre in Belfast on Thursday, March 3.

It will also be live streamed for international audiences to watch.

Speaking ahead of The Northern Ireland Showcase, the Minister said: “While the world is changing rapidly, we can still rely on Northern Ireland to be a great business location.

“This is at the heart of our economic vision – the 10x Economy - which sets out a bold plan to position Northern Ireland among the elite small advanced economies in the world.

“The global competition for investment, talent and trade has intensified as we recover from the impact of the pandemic.

“For the last two years, our businesses have shown remarkable resilience and adaptability.

“This has not gone unnoticed by many of our existing and potential investors and trading partners.

“I believe there is now a unique opportunity for Northern Ireland to grasp this opportunity to become a stronger and more vibrant economy which will lead to a wealthier, healthier society, where everyone benefits.”

The Minister asked Invest Northern Ireland to deliver the showcase event because he is keen to share to a wide audience his ambition to take Northern Ireland to the next level in the future.

Commenting on the importance of The Northern Ireland Showcase, Mel Chittock, interim CEO of Invest Northern Ireland, explained it would ‘promote our world class excellence and business growth to a global audience’.

He continued: “Northern Ireland has a proud history of world class innovation, entrepreneurship and a strong talent base.

“We are well established as global leaders in new and emerging fields like cyber security, fintech and advanced manufacturing.

“This event will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase these strengths and promote our world class excellence and business growth to a global audience.”

The day will include panel discussions with Northern Ireland’s business leaders.

Paul Armstrong, commercial director of Foods Connected in the North West is participating in the sustainability, traceability and waste management panel session.

He explained: “We’re delighted to be participating in the Showcase. Over the last number of years, we have thrived as a North West business with over 10,000 suppliers using our software to communicate with their customers globally.

“During the panel, we will discuss how we have achieved this and have grown to become a market leader in supply chain management, traceability and procurement tools for the food sector globally.”

The event will explore and highlight how Northern Ireland’s business community has risen to the challenge of the past two years with drive and innovation – and the lessons we can learn in that regard.

It will also highlight why international companies continue to find Northern Ireland an attractive place to grow their business and how local companies are building on their global export success.

Keith Farley, managing director of US Fortune 500 Company Aflac came to Northern Ireland in 2019 and is participating on the ‘Come to NI’ panel session.

He added: “We are excited to participate alongside some of Northern Ireland’s best businesses, where we will share our story of how we came to Northern Ireland in 2019 and the positive impact that this decision has had on our company’s global capabilities.

“Our Belfast operations have quickly become part of Aflac’s story of innovation, technology and cyber security excellence, powered by the talents of the 130 dedicated professionals that comprise our Northern Ireland team.”

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