Invest NI is in active negotiations with a number of potential investors on the back of last year’s Investment Summit, its outgoing chief executive has said.
Mel Chittock said the economic support agency’s efforts to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) had been boosted by the September 2023 conference in Belfast.
The interim CEO was speaking from the Belfast offices of DailyPay on Tuesday, where the US fintech announced plans to invest £24 million in expanding its Northern Ireland operation.
He said Invest NI anticipate further FDI announcements on the back of the Investment Summit.
“There is no doubt,” said Mr Chittock. “What the Investment Summit did was allow us to showcase Northern Ireland on a world stage, by bringing companies, both who have been here before, and also new potential investors.
“So combined with the trade delegation led by Joe Kennedy III, we’ve actually built a very strong presence in the international markets.
“We’ve been in negotiations with a number of different investors, and those negotiations are ongoing.”
Mr Chittock will be succeeded as chief executive of Invest NI on Monday, when Kieran Donoghue begins his tenure as CEO.
Mr Donoghue spent the last 21 years working for the Republic’s FDI agency, IDA Ireland.
His last nine years were spent as the IDA’s global head of strategy, public policy and international financial services.
Mel Chittock was named Invest NI’s interim CEO following the surprise resignation of Kevin Holland in late November 2021.
