Belfast needs to “up its game” if it is to win overseas investment and grow at scale in the coming years.
That was the message from Belfast Chamber, the body representing a large swathe of businesses in the city, as it laid out its roadmap to speed up the city’s regeneration. It said both central and local government need to up the ante in an effort to make the city more investable.
In a new policy paper, it set out how Northern Ireland needs to improve how it sells itself to investors, how investors are “guided through their investment journeys and the kind of public private partnerships that are put in pace to encourage scale regeneration”.
Called ‘Moving Belfast Forward’, it sets out 15 recommendations build around five themes – proposition, process, prioritisation, partnerships and planning – and includes a number of recommendations.
It wants the development of a renewed investment proposition, backed up by infrastructure investment plans and financial stimulants, that emphasises the region’s innovation and talent assets and the need for new developments.
In addition, it called for the creation of a ‘one stop shop’ for investment and regeneration in Belfast, headed up by one senior official and led by Belfast City Council, but with partners drawn from relevant departments and agencies like the Department for Infrastructure and the Department for Communities co-located alongside their City Hall colleagues that can help overcome the disconnect that currently exists. The paper said consideration should be given to the appropriate and bets delivery vehicle that could help bring investment projects to fruition and that this should include investment zones and development corporations.
“The continued renewal of Belfast is absolutely critical to the economic success of our entire region’s economy,” Belfast Chamber’s Regeneration Policy Working Group Chair Tom Stokes. “Despite the good progress we now require ‘a best in class approach’ to successfully compete for the crucial resources of investment and talent that Belfast needs to push forward at pace.
“Belfast’s regeneration is not about growth for growth’s sake. It is about enhancing our city’s ability to overcome the challenges it faces. Many of the moves required are understood and articulated in various plans and reports.
“More dense, city-based development is crucial in combating climate change. Building more residential accommodation for students, young professionals and families creates communities that will endure. Additional spaces for employment can help us achieve inclusive growth.”
