InterTradeIreland was established under the 1998 Belfast Agreement to 'exchange information
and co-ordinate work on trade, business development and related matters, in areas where the
two administrations specifically agree it would be in their mutual interest.’

InterTradeIreland has evolved its strategy to meet its legislative remit through an ongoing process of research, analysis, project design, pilots, implementation, evaluation and review. Our early work addressed a knowledge gap which was inhibiting trade and business development linkages between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

This was addressed primarily through the development of 'networks of trust' between the business communities North and South. More recently we identified, and acted upon, the importance of co-operation through more formal business networks as a key source of knowledge diffusion, competitive advantage and increased trade.

Our third Corporate Plan 2008-2010, continues the evolution of our strategy, building on the principles of knowledge diffusion and co-operation through business and policy networks, and taking as our core theme the optimal utilisation of economic resources through co-operative North/South initiatives.

Our value proposition for the business community is to deliver benefits in the key areas of competitive advantage – sales and marketing, science, technology and innovation, enterprise capability development and business networks. Our actions are informed by targeted policy research and development.

Vision

InterTradeIreland’s Vision is of a globally competitive enterprise environment in which Ireland and Northern Ireland co-operate to ensure the optimal utilisation of economic resources, particularly knowledge resources, to drive additional trade and wealth creation.

The strategic framework for our activities, and our strategic goals, are set out in the latest InterTradeIreland Corporate Plan.

Detailed information on the business programmes we run can be found in the Grow Your Business section of this website.

Information on our business and economic policy research, our publications and our work on developing a more competitive enterprise environment can be found in the Policy Research & Development section of this website.