How can businesses bank on Northern Ireland's dual access?

Northern Ireland is one of the only two UK regions to attract FDI in 2020.

The pandemic has disrupted nearly every country in the past year, even so, Northern Ireland managed to still snatch foreign direct investments (FDI) all the while facing tension over the United Kingdom’s EU exit. According to fDi Intelligence Northern Ireland was one of only two UK regions that attracted more FDI in 2020 - between January and November, investors announced 36 projects, an increase of 5.9% on 2019.

This June Singapore Business Review will be hosting a webinar with Invest Northern Ireland to dive into why Northern Ireland managed to come out of the UK’s EU exit strong, particularly in attracting FDIs.

In the 60-minute virtual event entitled Investing in Northern Ireland: Market Access to UK and European Union, Invest Northern Ireland will tackle just what drives its optimism that the country’s success in capturing FDIs will persist, despite the prolonged impact of the pandemic.

Invest Northern Ireland’s Head of Territory for Asia-Pacific Nick Caldwell will speak on the value drivers for inward investment and sector strengths. Caldwell is a chartered accountant who has been behind companies looking to grow and explore new markets.

He will be followed by Rakuten Blockchain Lab’s VP for Engineering Fergal Downey, who will share their experience in doing business in Northern Ireland. Downey, who has worked with both corporations and start-ups, pushes for a mix of technology, process, people and domain competencies. Rakuten, the world’s leading internet services companies, with a transformative presence in e-commerce, digital content and FinTech, opened the Rakuten Blockchain Lab in Northern Ireland in 2016, which it found as an attractive site for its advanced technological innovation.

Finally, Peter Curran, Invest Northern Ireland’s International Trade Policy senior adviser, will lay out investment propositions in the country following the EU exit and banking on Northern Ireland’s dual market access to the UK and EU.

Prior to his role in Invest Northern Ireland’s trade division, Curran served as its Head of Territory for Asia-Pacific between 2016 and 2017. During such time, he led Invest Northern Ireland’s expansion in the region.

For this webinar, Singapore Business Review invites C-suite executives, tech-focused scale-up companies, life and health sciences as well as advanced manufacturing companies.

If you are interested in attending the webinar, please contact Kath Belena at [email protected] or at +65 3158 1386. To find out more about the event, click here. To register, click here.