Invest NI: TUV question 'curious' decision not to release Windsor Framework investment figures

Yesterday, Invest NI – the body tasked with handling foreign investment in Northern Ireland – said that there has been an increase in interest in the province from investors since the deal was signed.

However, they refused to release any figures saying that “this information is commercially sensitive as it would give other economic agencies, which we are competing with to attract investment, an insight into our pipeline”.

The North Antrim MLA said: “It is very difficult to credit what Invest NI are saying in light of the fact that data of this nature was regularly disclosed in response to Assembly questions. In the past, Invest NI has been able to disclose how many visits by potential foreign direct investors took place in each constituency, been able to break this down by constituency and even by town – and been able to provide a breakdown of the number of jobs created by constituency and the inward investment visits by constituency.

“Why Invest NI cannot therefore provide information on whether there has been an increase in foreign direct investment or expressions of interest in FDI since the Windsor Framework was signed is curious indeed and something which requires further explanation.”

Invest NI said the information provided in the Assembly Questions is “historical data” but the News Letter had asked for current expressions of interest and that “is therefore live information. As we have stated, we have seen an increase in interest but for commercial reasons we are not in a position to quantify this.”

When the Windsor Framework was launched early last year, the Prime Minister said it created "the world's most exciting economic zone" – and US President Joe Biden said there were “scores of major American corporations wanting to come here, wanting to invest.”

Invest NI say they said they are engaging with a range of businesses about potentially investing in NI, and that these negotiations can take anything from 12 months to years, depending on the project scale and complexity.