Friday 21 June 2013
The Chief Minister, Deputy Peter Harwood and the Minister of Commerce and Employment, Deputy Kevin Stewart took part in the Twentieth Summit of the British Irish Council today (21 June 2013) held at the University of Ulster in Derry~Londonderry.
The meeting was hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive First Minister, the Rt Hon Peter Robinson MLA, and the deputy First Minister, Mr Martin McGuinness MLA. Also present was: An Taoiseach, Mr Enda Kenny TD; the Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP; the First Minister of Wales, the Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM; the First Minister of Scotland, the Rt Hon Alex Salmond MSP; the Chief Minister of Jersey, Senator Ian Gorst; the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, Hon Allan Bell MHK.
Derry~Londonderry is currently the UK City of Culture and the main themes of discussion were around the social and economic benefit of culture and the City of Culture status. Also discussed were the economic conditions in BIC Member jurisdictions in particular the impact of infrastructure investment, energy costs and levels of youth employment.
The Chief Minister said:
"The BIC summit provides a valuable platform to ensure that the island's position in the British family is explained and understood. Discussing our shared economic opportunities and interests is very important. I was also pleased to have the opportunity to make the point to the Deputy Prime Minister that Guernsey has long-supported the tax transparency agenda, and that we and the Crown Dependencies should not be conflated with less transparent jurisdictions. I was pleased that he acknowledged that distinction."
Deputy Kevin Stewart said:
"The summit, both the main discussion, and the informal meetings around it, are an opportunity to build economic partnerships. We have had some very good conversations, for example with UK Ministers on potential areas of cooperation in renewable energy."
The BIC Summit was the second inter-governmental summit held in Northern Ireland this week following the G8 summit held in Lough Erne on 17-18 June.
Jersey hosts the next summit in November 2013, and then Guernsey in 2014.
The Communique from the Summit and BIC annual report is available here.
ENDS
