Partnership to aid innovation

All-island development agency Intertrade Ireland and the US Council on Competitiveness took the first step towards establishing a partnership that will allow industries and universities on both sides of the Atlantic to co-operate on innovation.

The two bodies signed a memorandum of understanding that will lead to a programme of full co-operation, linking academics and industry on the island of Ireland with the US.

The partnership will be aimed at aiding the development of new technologies in both countries that will boost competitiveness and prosperity.

The two parties signed the memo at the All-Island Competitiveness Forum in Belfast yesterday.

The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, the Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Mr Barry Gardiner, and the President of the US Council on Competitiveness, Ms Deborah Wince-Smith, attended the meeting.

According to the agency's chief executive, Mr Liam Nellis, the partnership grew out of contact between the Irish and US bodies originally initiated to give Intertrade Ireland an opportunity to look at how the US managed the various issues that affect economic competitiveness.

Meanwhile, Mr McCreevy told the conference that future prosperity hinged on the ability of Ireland, north and south, to move "up the value chain" .

"The emergence of China and other low-cost locations has transformed international competition for global trade and investment flow,"he said. "Northern Ireland and Ireland are exceptionally 'open' economies, exporting approximately three-quarters of manufacturing output," he added.