§ Mr. MossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans she has to promote Northern Ireland(a) tourism and (b) commerce through the Internet. [72955]
§ Mr. IngramThe Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), the Industrial Development Board (IDB), the Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU) and the Industrial Research and Technology Unit (IRTU) all have a web sites on the internet designed to promote Northern Ireland tourism or commerce.
Tourism
NITB's web-site (www.ni.tourism.com) contains detailed regional and product information. NITB is also working with new regional tourist organisations in Northern Ireland to develop a coherent approach to the development of their web-sites.
Commerce
IDB's web-site (WWW.idbni.co.uk) promotes NI as a prime business location for new inward investment and covers all aspects of IDB's operations. IDB is currently in discussions with the 26 district councils in NI to provide a hyperlink from their sites to the IDB site to further enhance investment and trade opportunities.
IRTU's site on the NI Public Service Web (www.nics.gov.uk/irtu) provides information on the Unit's R&D support programmes.
LEDU also maintain a site (www.ict.co.uk) and plan to exploit to the full ICT (Integrated Computer Technologies) as a key source of competitive advantage to small firms in Northern Ireland, which will benefit them commercially. This would be beneficial by way of making it easier to enter new markets and competing internationally.