Minister's Speech - Deliver keynote address at NI Chamber’s economic conference, Momentum 2026 - 22 April 2026

Good morning everyone. 

The theme of this Conference is “Thinking Globally” and the impact of international events on the local economy has been all too clear of late.

On the eve of last year’s Conference, President Trump announced sweeping new trade tariffs. 

Today we are dealing with the consequences of the US/Israeli attacks on Iran.

Many hope that this disruption to international trading relationships will end when Trump steps down in 2029.

But that is not something we can rely on. We may well be in the middle of a fundamental shift in global relationships and norms.

From my perspective therefore there are three aspects to our response.

One is to diversify our international markets.

A few months ago I visited China, the world’s second largest economy.

It is telling that the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister also went to China around the same time. 

China aims to have over 800 million middle-income earners within the next decade and it is trying to develop a more sophisticated consumer market.

This presents a huge opportunity for our exporters and Invest NI is working with the NI Bureau in Beijing to take advantage of that.

We also need to fully capitalise on our ability to trade freely with the European Union. 

Through dedicated guidance, workshops, export support, and stakeholder engagement, Invest NI is helping firms to use dual market access to strengthen supply chains, expand sales, and improve competitiveness.

Of course most trade is with those closest to us, and so a second element of our response should be to build trade across these islands.

The all-Ireland economy is thriving, and to support this growth I’ve increased the budget for Intertrade Ireland.

Tourism is increasingly operating on an all-Ireland basis and the upcoming Fleadh will be a great opportunity to showcase the north to the south.

Minimising friction in east-west trade as much as possible remains important, and on that, I continue to press the British Government to ensure that the Duty Reimbursement Scheme is fit for purpose.

The British Government has committed to making some improvements in the scheme but I am pushing for more progress to ensure that the scheme works as effectively as possible.

The third element is the most fundamental - strengthening our own regional competitiveness.

Investment in skills is critical to this.

I am therefore seeking more resources as part of the multi-year budget for skills, and particularly for Further and Higher Education.

Led by the Finance Minister, the Executive is now in a negotiation with the British Government on our funding settlement.

I’m also very well disposed to the Chamber’s call for a dedicated talent agency- similar to Skillnet Ireland.

I believe this would strengthen alignment between employers, further and higher education, and government – and enable faster, more coordinated responses to skills gaps.

Preparatory work is underway to lay the foundations for delivering this model in the next mandate.

I see my Good Jobs Bill as something which will strengthen our skills base.

It will help to attract more people into the labour market, and a new Code of Practice will require Trade Unions and employers to work constructively together for the good of companies and workers.

The Bill will be shared with the Executive before the end of the month.

I know some employers have reservations and I will meet with the Chamber and other employer representatives to talk these issues through.

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I also see Artificial Intelligence as key to our future competitiveness.

Last week I established my AI advisory panel.

There are risks that have to be managed, but AI presents huge opportunities to increase productivity and create more and better jobs.

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The wars on Ukraine and Iran have highlighted how our reliance on volatile imported fossil fuels is detrimental to our competitiveness.

So we must double down on our journey towards greater self-sufficiency in renewables.

I recently secured Executive agreement for the Renewable Energy Price Guarantee scheme and intend to legislate for this within the mandate.

Following the announcement last week I’m also working with the British Government to deliver a support scheme for energy intensive businesses. This will have to be comparable to the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme and we are working through the detail of what that looks like.

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So we have a lot to do but the fundamentals of our economy remain strong. 

We have been outperforming Britain with higher growth and stronger exports. 

External sales continue to grow and cross-border trade on the island of Ireland has reached an all-time high of £14.6 billion.

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However, we cannot be complacent. 

The Chamber’s latest Quarterly Business Insights sounded an important note of caution.

We do not want to have to rely on our reserves of resilience.

We want to inject real growth momentum.

That is challenging given the international context, and the limitations on our funding, but there are grounds for optimism and confidence.

So thank you to Suzanne and the team for the invitation this morning.

I’m now going just round the corner to meet Wrightbus with Paul Frew MLA.

Because whatever our political differences, elected representatives from all parties do routinely work together to support our world class businesses and entrepreneurs.

Thank you.