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Aidan Gough, designated officer and director of strategy and policy at InterTradeIreland, reflects on the progress made over the past 20 years. During this period, ITI engaged with nearly 40,000 businesses, directly supporting 9,000 firms to create added business development value of €1.2bn and 14,800 jobs.

It has been 20 years since the signing of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement and the establishment of InterTradeIreland as a North/South Implementation Body, with a legislative mandate to exchange information and coordinate work on trade, business development and related matters.

InterTradeIreland helps small businesses in Ireland and Northern Ireland explore new cross-border markets, develop new products, processes and services, and become investor-ready. It also has a remit to support increased cooperation in trade and competitiveness.

Steadily and significantly

Total cross-border trade has been growing at an average rate of 4% per annum over the past 20 years and stands at nearly €7bn/£6.1bn for 2017. Northern Ireland, with a population size of just 2.9% of the UK total, takes between 10% and 12% of total exports from Ireland to the UK, and accounts for 7-8% of imports.

Furthermore, for 51% of Irish exporters, Northern Ireland is the destination for more than 50% of their exports. For 26% of Irish firms, Northern Ireland is the destination for approximately 100% of their exports.

Cross-border traders have higher productivity, turnover and employment than non-exporters. The cross-border market also plays a valuable role in broader export development, with 71% of exporters saying the cross-border market played a significant role as a stepping stone to further markets.

In Association with

Integrated cross-border supply chains

There is a considerable level of interconnectedness of trade and cross-border supply chain integration on the island, with almost 80% of cross-border trade taking place in intermediate products. Businesses operating within their supply chains back and forth across the border make up the majority of cross-border trade.

Small businesses have benefitted from participation in InterTradeIreland’s suite of trade supports. For example, the average benefit for participants on our Sales and Marketing programme, Acumen, is an increase in sales of €280,000.

InterTradeIreland’s own research has shown that exporting and innovation are two pillars of successful businesses, and our cross-border supports reflect this fact. Since 2001, our FUSION initiative has assisted over 600 industry-academia collaboration projects, generating an average return of £850,000 per company.

Challenge Programme

Our all-island Challenge Programme can double or triple the speed with which businesses bring products to the market. The benefits and value of collaborative partnerships and networks have also been apparent in the success of the US-Ireland R&D Partnership. Through it, 49 projects, with a value of €73m, have been approved in a wide variety of sectors.

The value of collaborative working has also been shown in North/South partnership involvement in EU Research frameworks. Within the first two years (2014-2016) of the Horizon 2020 programme, North/South applications and drawdown was almost double that of the previous programme, FP7.

Clearly, cross-border cooperation has delivered tangible benefits, particularly but not exclusively to smaller businesses across the island. With only 15% of goods produced in Northern Ireland being exported beyond its border, and only 1.6 % of Irish goods exports going north, there are still plenty of opportunities for further growth.

For more information on InterTradeIreland’s supports, services, research and statistics, please visit our website or call 048 3083 4100.

Pictured: Aidan Gough, designated officer and director of strategy and policy, InterTradeIreland