After decades of tension and strife, Northern Ireland is slowly but surely getting on its feet. With an economy roughly ?26 billion in size, and with Northern Ireland-India trade volume standing at around $100 million, India is now among the key focus markets for them. Indian businesses have till now invested around $250 million in the area, which has led to the creation of around 3,000 jobs. Hoping to bank on the India opportunity, first minister of Northern Ireland, Peter D Robinson, along with deputy first minster, Martin McGuinness, visited India with a business delegation. In an interaction with Sukalp Sharma, the two leaders talk about the changing face of the region, its economy and how hope is what they see in the future.

After a troubled past, how has the experience of running a unity government been, and how has Northern Ireland changed?

Both of us entered into government together arising out of the peace agreement back in 2007. Before that, we were on very different sides of the divide. We were determined that we didn’t want to pass on that sort of a legacy to the future generations. We now have a very stable government and a peaceful society. There’s a feeling of hope and anticipation now in Northern Ireland, which hasn’t been experienced over so may generations. It allows us to now focus on the economic priorities of Northern Ireland. Now we can focus all our attention and energy towards building the economy, and making it a prosperous country. A part of that is to go out and look for major emerging markets and economies. India has really impressed us with its growth. There are real improvements happening in your country.

Which are the core areas where you think India and Northern Ireland can have a good trade relationship?

In Northern Ireland, we can produce 40% of the world’s stone crushing and stone grinding machinery, which is pretty phenomenal for an area and population as small as ours. That’s an area that Indian companies would have a lot of interest in. Then there are fields like medicine and education, which are of immense interest to people here in India. We want to particularly encourage investments in IT, business services, financial services, high-end engineering and green technology. And of course we are reaching out to the creative industries as well. We want Bollywood to come to Northern Ireland. Hollywood has come already. We have great locations and remarkable scenery. We have built up an extensive creative industry sector in Northern Ireland with a lot of investment. We have the largest film set in Europe. HBO has been producing its Game of Thrones series in Northern Ireland.

In terms of the complicated political structure and the position of Northern Ireland, does the economic system also become more complicated for you?

One of the major disadvantages we’ve had to face is that the corporation tax levels are at 12.5% in the Republic of Ireland, and because we are linked to British parliament, economy and treasury, our corporation tax levels are at 24%. We are involved in negotiations with the treasury and the government to soon have a devolution of corporation tax powers to the Northern Ireland administration. If that happens, then we have plans to reduce our corporation tax levels to the same level as is in the Republic of Ireland. That would directly have an impact and would increase the FDI inflow into Northern Ireland.

What financial advantages can Northern Ireland provide to filmmakers?

We give the tax breaks that the whole of the United Kingdom has. The same tax breaks will be also be valid for television series, and not just films. We have an organisation in Belfast called Northern Ireland Screen. It is primarily their mandate to engage on the creative industry side. Now, there are the normal tax breaks, and other financial breaks that are given by the Northern Ireland Screen.

So, you decide your own budget?

All the taxes that are lifted in Northern Ireland go to the British treasury. Then they give us something like ?21 billion between benefits, pensions, and the block grant. Then we decide our own budget.

There are talks of a policy paralysis, besides the recent controversy over retrospective tax laws hurting foreign players. Would you throw some caution to the wind?

It?s obvious that such things would concern anyone to a certain extent. But all companies do take all these things into consideration in every market. They are independent entities and they make their assessments in any markets on the basis of their observations and findings. We just encourage interaction and business, but it is at the end of the day a particular company’s call if it wants to invest in any market or not. So, overall, India is an extremely important market for us. We realise that the partnerships and relationships that have grown over time can be further developed. Exports from Northern Ireland to India can be boosted and the same stands for Indian investment in Northern Ireland.

How are your trade relations with the Republic of Ireland?

We do get the best of both worlds. We can have our cake and eat it too. We have an organisation called InterTradeIreland, and that has led to a lot of increase in trade between the two. Both of us are a part of a power-sharing government in the North, but we are also on the north-south ministerial council. We sit with their ministers, all of us together, to deal with common issues and causes and mutual benefit. We’re also part of the British-Irish ministerial council. That provides us with a unique opportunity to leverage our business relationship with the UK as well as the Irish Republic. In fact, they are our biggest trading partners and the trade volume is about ?2.3 billion per annum.

Are there any concrete results for you to show for your recent India visit?

What we can tell you is that several Indian companies have agreed to come over in the next couple of months to take a closer look at what we are offering in terms of the business opportunity. Of course, companies that have already had a relationship with Northern Ireland, our relationship ith them has been strengthened. But what is more significant is that companies that have no presence in Northern Ireland as of now are extremely excited about the opportunity. We are absolutely certain that new relationships will be forged and older ones would be strengthened.