Northern Ireland’s economic development agency will shift its focus from purely job creation to boosting Northern Ireland’s productivity in a new plan laid our by the Department for the Economy.
It said the agency will pivot to deliver on the department’s “10x” vision which prioritises innovation, sustainability and inclusivity, on supporting the range of Northern Ireland growth deals and “ultimately raising the overall level of productivity in our economy.”
The Action Plan does, however, aim to create so-called higher value jobs while also increasing its support to regions throughout Northern ireland
The new plan follows a withering independent review of the organisation released at the start of 2023 which said the organisation had a limited impact on the province’s productivity and needed wholesale reform to be fit for purpose.
Formulating the action plan involved 300 of Invest NI’s staff and will require swingeing changes, Interim chair of the Invest NI board Colm McKenna said.
He said “it is a clear commitment for change by Invest NI and the Department for the Economy which will require changes to our leadership, structure, operations, culture, and strategy.
“We do not underestimate the scale of challenge ahead to ensure we fulfil everything we have committed to. We have made good progress in the eight months since publication of the Review and have taken immediate action in several areas while we also carried out the detailed scoping work on the more challenging recommendations.”
He said the release of the review is just the beginning of the process.
“The Review called for a reset, refocus and repositioning of Invest NI. We believe that this Action Plan addresses each of these and whilst a huge amount of work has gone in to getting us to this point, the hard work starts now to bring this Action Plan to life and to ensure we collectively deliver a high-performing Northern Ireland economy.”
