POLITICAL stability and certainty around Northern Ireland's regulatory framework for businesses are "critical" for attracting American investment, Joe Kennedy III has said.
The US special economic envoy said the dual market access copperfastened through the Windsor Framework provides an "extraordinary opportunity" but that the potential application of the so-called Stormont brake for political purposes would likely fuel uncertainty.
Mr Kennedy, who is visiting the north for the first time since his appointment by President Joe Biden in December, spoke to The Irish News on Wednesday ahead of delivering a widely-anticipated speech in Belfast on the last day of Queen's University's series of events to mark the 25th anniversary of Good Friday Agreement.
In the wake of the president's visit last week, the 42-year-old former Congressman has been highlighting the potential for major US investment following February's EU-UK agreement on revised post-Brexit trade arrangements.
He said his mission was two-fold – to stress the "enormous opportunity" available to US firms and to ensure "the benefits of economic prosperity reach out to every community".
Mr Kennedy said having a functioning executive in place was key to attracting overseas investment.
"When it comes to the opportunity for growing an economy and accelerating economic prosperity, political stability is critically important," he said.
While not naming the DUP, he alluded to the party's current deliberation over the Windsor Framework and acknowledged that there was a process in which "political parties will take the time they need to go through it".
However, Mr Kennedy added: "Obviously, the sooner that those issues can get resolved, the sooner that business leaders around the world can see that there is clarity, that there is certainty."
He said there had been an "uncertain macro economic environment" in recent years as a result of Brexit but that the recent EU-UK deal brought greater certainty.
"I think the Windsor Framework provides clarity to that, and potentially an extraordinary opportunity for Northern Ireland, in terms of market access for firms that are going to be based here," he said.
Asked if investment would be hindered by the potential for the application of the Stormont brake, which enables concerns to be raised about the introduction of new EU laws, he said: "Any business that is looking at going to make a large investment in any place wants clarity and certainty about what that regulatory environment is, and how it might change – and I don't think that it's Northern Ireland is any different than any place else."
The US envoy said businesses "want to know the rules of the game".
Mr Kennedy said plans to bring a host of US firms to the north in the autumn wouldn't necessarily be jeopardised by the absence of a Stormont executive.
"But it's certainly helpful for any leader that's going to look to make a large, substantial investment in a place to know that the political system is consistently stabilised," he said.
