The infrastructure of Northern Ireland is set to be transformed by the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland 2008-18, published in January this year by the Executive of the Northern Irish Assembly. The Investment Strategy sets out a planned spend approaching £20bn on new infrastructure in Northern Ireland over a 10-year period, approximately £6bn of which will be delivered over the next three years. Funding in the main is from the Northern Ireland Executive, but supplemented by the disposal of public assets and other third-party sources.
Other sponsors have set up investment funds, such as the Emerald Infrastructure Development Fund, a private equity fund set up by four New York City pension funds in April 2008, which aims to deliver a £75m investment into infrastructure investment projects in Northern Ireland with a focus on the border areas. This boost to the Northern Irish economy is intended to deliver high-quality public services throughout the region and should provide significant opportunities for sponsors, contractors, funders and their legal, financial and technical advisers.
