HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Northern Ireland: towards a prosperous future Chancellor announces 315m Pounds Economic Strategy [May 1998]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 12 May 1998.
A major economic strategy for Northern Ireland, worth 315 million Pounds, was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown on a visit to Belfast today. Aimed at promoting enterprise and encouraging investment throughout Northern Ireland, the strategy consists of four Funds:
a 150m Pounds Investment Fund
of which 21m Pounds is for an Innovation and Tourism Fund
65m Pounds for an Employment and Skills Fund and
a 100m Pounds Enterprise Fund
Speaking to leading business, community and political representatives he said:
“The package that I have announced today amounts to a 315 million Pounds investment in the renewal and modernisation of Northern Ireland. The challenge we face is to build on economic and political stability, to promote enterprise and inward investment, to get people back to work and equip them with the right skills, and to build the infrastructure for a modern economy.
Having created a framework for peace, we can now create a framework for prosperity. For years we have been attempting to protect the Northern Ireland economy. From today, we can begin to build it.”
The Chancellor also announced that he would join Secretary of State Mo Mowlam in launching a 10 city tour of America in the autumn to promote Northern Ireland as a key area for inward investment.
