With low business operating costs and an educated workforce, Northern Ireland has the opportunity to develop one of the world's fastest-growing economies, per capita, in the next five years, the U.S. economic envoy there predicted at a recent Atlanta event.

"I believe momentum is with Northern Ireland," Declan Kelly said at a luncheon sponsored by the Atlanta chapter of the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the United States. "Every time I return there, I see unbelievable potential."

Northern Ireland has low wages compared to all of the United Kingdom's regions, but it also has suffered severe job losses during the current recession. Meanwhile, it has experienced political and social advances under the Hillsborough agreement.

Mr. Kelly praised the recently approved agreement that will allow Northern Ireland to provide its own police force and court system. The agreement, named for the Hillsborough Castle near Belfast where it was negotiated, was approved by the Northern Ireland Assembly on March 9, the latest step in resolving a more than three-decades-old conflict, often violent, between Catholic residents who want to be governed by Ireland and Protestants who wish to remain part of the United Kingdom.  

"Northern Ireland found itself at yet another crossroads," Mr. Kelly said of the Hillsborough agreement. "The choices Northern Ireland faced were complex as always: the choice between progression and regression, looking forward or looking backward. I and the U.S. government and the people of Northern Ireland I'm sure were very proud to see that in all these choices, the political leaders of Northern Ireland chose the right path yet again."

Mr. Kelly, a native of Portroe, Ireland, praised the U.S. government for its role in negotiating the agreement.

"Northern Ireland has no greater friend than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton," he said.

The agreement will provide further stability that will boost Northern Ireland's economy, Mr. Kelly told the chamber group at the World Trade Center Atlanta.

Northern Ireland, which has a population of 1.7 million, has invested heavily in its education system and infrastructure, positioning itself for growth in health care, telecommunications and renewable energy, Mr. Kelly said. According to Invest Northern Ireland, the government economic development agency, prime office rental rates there are among the lowest in the developed world and salaries are 30 percent lower than in other similar European locations.

Small businesses are proliferating in Northern Ireland, with 66,000 companies there employing 20 people or less, said Mr. Kelly.

The software and film industries in particular are thriving, said Mr. Kelly.

Atlanta already has strong business links to Northern Ireland, with the Coca-Cola Co. and GE Energy among the companies with operations there.

Calling himself a "traveling salesman for Northern Ireland," Mr. Kelly urged Atlantans to promote the province to companies here looking to expand overseas.

"We are willing to come to Atlanta as frequently as you would wish to talk to these companies about investment opportunities in Northern Ireland," he said.

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