JUST six per cent of all Invest NI money spent on businesses in Belfast in the past three years has gone to the west of the city.
The new figures, released following an Assembly question from SDLP MLA Alex Attwood, reveal a significantly reduced spend and a disparity in the number of jobs created compared to the rest of the city.
Earlier this year figures released for 2011 to 2014 placed west Belfast at the bottom of all 18 constituencies in the north in terms of financial assistance and jobs promoted by Invest NI.
In the past three years £7.8m has been spent on existing businesses in west Belfast by Invest NI, yet in south of the city seven times that sum has been offered to existing businesses.
The trend continues in the other areas of the city with £36m contributed to businesses in the east and £21.2m spent in north Belfast since 2013.
In terms of jobs west Belfast has also seen the lowest number created in the city by Invest NI in the past three years.
In 2014-15 387 jobs were created in west Belfast, significantly lower than the city counterparts, but fast-forward a year and the number of jobs created had fallen to just 138.
The number of visits arranged by Invest NI for potential inward investment over the same time period is also lagging behind.
Of the 521 visits arranged by Invest NI in Belfast over the past three years, 41 were in west Belfast, with 260 in south, 122 in east and 98 in north Belfast.
Mr Attwood said the figures "confirm the deepening and accelerating economic partition of Belfast".
"There is a relentless flow of investment into the other parts of Belfast most of all south and east and an accelerating decline in jobs investment and visits for west Belfast.
"Jobs should go to all parts, spread across the city and the north. All should get fair treatment. No part should be left behind," he said.
He also bemoaned the loss of one of the area's biggest employers, Visteon, whose factory on the Finaghy Road closed in 2009 with the loss of around 200 jobs.
"The worsening position advertises the fact that the loss of the Visteon site for substantial jobs investment, arguably the premier economic land in the west, was shortsighted and makes the work of getting work into the constituency harder," Mr Attwood added.
In response to the figures Oonagh Hinds, Executive Director for Regional Business said investment and job creation is "driven by business, not Invest NI".
"The figures, released to Mr Attwood in response to his Assembly Questions, detail the support that Invest NI has offered to businesses that have sought our help.
"In areas where there is a higher concentration of businesses you would therefore expect to see higher levels of support," she said.
Invest NI also highlighted that business investment in west Belfast over the past five years has increased by 178 per cent compared to the previous five year period, assistance offered to business has increased by 57 per cent, while the number of jobs promoted in the area has increased by 118 per cent in the same time-frame.
