Three-year plan to boost fintech investment in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland’s fintech trade body has set out a three-year plan to attract more than £25m of foreign direct investment into the country.
FintechNI has worked on a strategic roadmap with professional services firm Deloitte to ensure 100 fintech firms are located in the country by 2024.
The report said Northern Ireland’s geographical advantage, talent, skills and education, a supportive and collaborative community and expertise in cyber security, artificial intelligence, data analytics and regulatory technology have already made its fintech cluster worth £392m.
But it warned that support will be needed to connect fintech firms with investors and to attract and build the right skills and talent to boost the sector.
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“Northern Ireland is regarded as a world leader in the fintech sector and often ranks highly in lists of the best places in the world to locate fintech companies,” Alex Lee, chair of FintechNI, said.
“We have shown time and again that we can attract foreign direct investment, have a strong talent pool and the right attitude towards the nurturing of fintech companies.”
It comes after the Treasury-backed Strategic Review of UK Fintech conducted earlier this year by industry expert Ron Kalifa named Northern Ireland as one of the leading emerging clusters for fintech.
“I am thrilled to see a three-year fintech strategy launch in Northern Ireland, a region that presents a tremendous opportunity for the sector to create jobs and further international trade by promoting innovation across financial services,” Kalifa said.
“This strategy is entirely consistent with the broader review of UK fintech launched in February and I am delighted that fintech Northern Ireland is progressing the regional agenda through this piece of work.”
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