All-island economic development agency InterTradeIreland, one of the bodies established under the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, has marked its 25th anniversary by revealing that cross-border trade is at an all time high.
New figures show that the organisation has supported more than 60,000 businesses across the island and generated €1.95 billion (£1.7 billion) in business development value.
It has also supported entrepreneurs to secure over €350 million (£290 million) in investment and led the way in growing collaborative innovation, all- island clustering and cross-border trade from €2 billion to €12 billion (nearly £10 billion).
And this year alone, more than 12,000 businesses across have benefitted from support from the organisation.
InterTradeIreland is now calling for more businesses to take advantage of the cross-border opportunity as a route to growth.
Its research shows that the vast majority of first-time exporters in the cross-border market go on to export off the island, enjoying higher levels of growth and profitability.
InterTradeIreland says that key to it success is its services along the key pillars of trade, innovation, entrepreneurship and funding for growth, all with a cross-border element to take advantage of the best expertise and bigger market that working across the island offers.
At a macro level, InterTradeIreland is also creating and supporting vital partnerships across the island in the areas of advanced manufacturing, the bio-economy, fintech and life sciences.
With a proven track record, InterTradeIreland has clear plans for the future. They include:
- Growing the sales of businesses exporting cross-border and the number of first-time exporters
- Growing all-island innovation partnerships and connections in high value sectors to scale innovation, productivity and to drive adaptation of new technologies.
- Accelerating all-island entrepreneurship including the number of women entrepreneurs
InterTradeIreland chief executive Margaret Hearty said: “We play a unique role in identifying opportunities for north-south collaboration that can accelerate growth in both economies, as well as connecting business across the island to export cross-border, collaborate, innovate and attract investment.
“With cross-border trade now at an all-time high, there has never been a better time for businesses to take advantage of the all-island economy and with our support, there is scope for further growth.
“Across the island there are many shared policy priorities and economic opportunities that can be best addressed by working with our partners. We were established to work across the island, and so facilitating and delivering collaboration is in our DNA.”
She added: “We would like to acknowledge our partners and stakeholders and look forward to working with them over the next 25 years to continue to increase all-island economic cooperation and growth.”