BUSINESS7DAYSSUNDAY APRIL 7, 2013 PAGE 14

Northern Irelandwants to leverage itsgolfing success to

build ties with the UAE

Driving further investmentTOURIST TRAIL:Northern Ireland’s famousGiants CausewayN

orthern Ireland’s golf superstarRory McIlroy is a well-knownface in the UAE. The currentworld No. 2 chalked up his first-

ever professional tournament victoryat the Dubai Desert Classic in 2009,ended 2012 as the winner of theEuropean Tour’s Race to Dubai andwas in the country again earlier thisyear for the high-profile HSBC AbuDhabi Championship.Until a recent mega-deal withsportswear giant Nike he had proudlyworn the brand of Dubai’s JumeirahGroup for five years. Little wonder then that when NorthernIreland’s Minister of Enterprise, Tradeand Investment Arlene Foster recentlyvisited the UAE to drum-up furtherbusiness, she turned to golf, andMcIlroy in particular to stressthe shared interests of thetwo countries. “In Northern Ireland,we have some ofthe best golfcourses in theworld and now,with the golferRory McIlroy, wehave the bestgolfer in theworld too,” theminister told 7DAYS. Foster hopes UAE-based fans of thegame will visit some ofthe country’s famouscourses - like the RoyalPortrush Golf Club, the home course of2010 US Open winner GraemeMcDowell. In fact, with Darren Clarke’svictory in the 2011 Open Championship,Northern Ireland now boasts three activemajor winners - not bad given itspopulation of just 1.8 million.But it is a diverse portfolio of intereststhat brought Minister Foster to theUAE. Forget the golfers, her visitincluded the promotion of perhapsNorthern Ireland’s most popular‘champ’ - the mixture of potato, milk,butter and spring onions that expatscrave. A deal between a Northern Irishfirm and UAE supermarket Spinneysmeans it’ll be easier for them to satisfytheir cravings. Such tie-ups are typical of a growingtrade relationship between NorthernIreland and the UAE. Northern Irishexports to the UAE increased by 7 percent from 2010/11 to 2011/12 to reach£107 million (Dhs598 million).And that’s despite there being no directflight between Belfast and the UAE.

“We have some very good connectivityinto Dublin from Emirates andEtihad,” said Foster. “Northern Irelandis about an hour away from Dublin bycar or an hour away from a Britishairport via a connecting flight.” However she added: “I would like tosee more connectivity into Belfastdirectly, which is why I successfullypushed to have air passenger dutyabolished on direct long haul flights[from Northern Ireland]. This, Ibelieve, makes Northern Ireland amore attractive proposition for airlinesand I will continue to meet, as I havedone while in the UAE, with airlines todiscuss future developments.”Perhaps understandably, shepreferred to remain tight-lipped onthe subject of which Arab countries

rocked by unrest in recentyears might learn from

Northern Ireland interms of attracting

investment after aperiod of violence -in its case the toxicsectarian conflictthat becameknown as ‘TheTroubles’.What is clearhowever, is that

visitors arereturning in force -

with more than amillion people

venturing to NorthernIreland in the first 9 months

of last year. A high-profile recentmarketing campaign sought to“increase tourism, change globalperceptions, build civic pride andprovide a platform to repositionNorthern Ireland not only as a positiveplace to visit, but as a great place to live,work, study and invest in,” she explained.This year Derry/Londonderry is theUK City of Culture. In May, Northern Ireland will host astage of the Giro d'Italia, one ofprofessional cycling's three Grand Tourevents, and the world’s top politicalleaders will congregate in CountyFermanagh in June for the latest G8 Summit.Asked for any tips she could providefor the team preparing Dubai’s bid forthe 2020 World Expo, she says: “Aproven track record helps but it is alsoimportant to ensure that the rightinfrastructure is in place to allow theevent to be a success.”With such a common sense approach,it sounds like Rory McIlroy’s homelandhas its strategy down to a tee.

FAMILIAR FACE: The world’snumber two golfer Rory McIlroy is a

frequent visitor to the UAE

MEETING OF MINDS:Northern Ireland MinisterArlene Foster and the UAE’sMinister for Foreign TradeSheikha Lubna Al Qasimi