Belfast City Business Awards - 13 November 2008

Thank you Jim or Sarah [Jim Fitzpatrick or Sarah Travers].

Good evening Lord Mayor, ladies and gentlemen.   

I am delighted to be here to celebrate with you the Belfast Business Awards 2008.

The skyline, streetscapes and economy of Belfast have been transformed over the past decade.  And it gives me great pleasure to join you tonight in recognising some of the businesses whose efforts have helped to sustain this new positive trajectory, over the last year.  

I want to see Belfast firmly established as a premier, European city, and I do not underestimate the role of individual talent and private entrepreneurship in achieving this objective.  

The Department for Social Development, as the regeneration authority for Northern Ireland, is delighted to co-sponsor these Awards. And I’m particularly pleased to sponsor the Award for the Best Regeneration Project, which recognises projects that have significantly improved and re-vitalised an area within the City.

Urban Regeneration continues to play a major role in driving economic growth in Northern Ireland and turning the Peace Dividend into something really tangible.

Today’s Belfast is very different from that of just a few years ago.

Improved investor confidence has led to major investment from local, national and global players and has contributed greatly to job creation, tourism and the quality of life and well-being of our people.

And 2008 is another important year for Belfast, with the opening of the major retail-led regeneration scheme at Victoria Square. This four hundred million pound scheme is spearheading the regeneration of the main shopping area, strengthening the evening economy and has connected the heart of the city to the riverfront at Laganside.

Significant work on renewing the streetscape through the ‘Belfast: Streets Ahead’ programme also started this year; the ‘Four Corner’s development at Cathedral Quarter was completed; and, construction works at Obel, The Boat, Lanyon Towers and The Soloist are all beginning to take shape.

Just across the river, the skyline at Titanic Quarter is also being transformed by this exciting development.

Despite the growth of recent years, however, we are facing tough times ahead as the economic downturn begins to bite internationally and at home. Our local businesses are uncertain about their future. Our people are worried about their jobs and families are having to make difficult choices as they see their incomes stretched.

I am determined to do everything in my power to see Northern Ireland through this downturn.

I will work with my Executive colleagues, the business, community and voluntary sectors to ensure that we have the right policies in place to support and promote the Northern Ireland economy.  And my Department will pursue our investment plans and the many regeneration projects already in the pipeline across Northern Ireland.

I believe that we have a prosperous future to look forward to.

The support my Department gives to BCCM to run the Belfast Business Awards is part of our drive to build strong partnerships between government and the private sector to support the regeneration of Belfast. Regeneration succeeds when it is based on partnership: partnership between the business, community and public sectors – And every single person who has ambition for this City to move forward.

Everyone in this room is a partner with DSD.  

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "that the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."  I believe that by working together we can make our shared dreams for Belfast a reality.

These Awards invite individual businesses to demonstrate excellence in their field and their contribution to Belfast. Those individual achievements started with a dream or a germ of an idea. I congratulate all those who have taken part - take pride in your achievements and those of your workforce.

My thanks also go to Billy McGivern and the team at BCCM for their efforts in organising these Awards, in what has become an annual fixture for Belfast which all stakeholders look forward to.

Together let’s celebrate the regeneration and development of the business sector in Belfast.

Thank you.