5th November 2008

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University of Ulster Vice Chancellor Professor Richard Barnett and Arlene Foster, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Invesment, at the conferences of the International Small Business Congress and Institute for Small  Business and Entrepreneurship


The University of Ulster is a champion of small business development and entrepreneurship, Vice Chancellor Professor Richard Barnett told a major international business assembly in Belfast.  

Addressing hundreds of representatives from the small and medium-size enterprise sector, he praised SMEs’ pivotal role in building economic and social growth and said an ethos of entrepreneurship and small business development was embedded in the University’s Ulster Business School and across the University. 

A Government Minister from each side of the border spoke at the gathering, a joint plenary session of International Small Business Congress (ISBC) and the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE).   

More than 1,000 delegates from 70 countries are attending congresses at which senior figures in the domestic and international SME sector, including practitioners, policy-makers and academics, are exploring challenges facing SMEs and how the sector can retain competitiveness in the current economic climate. 

Arlene Foster, MLA Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment and Dr Jimmy Devins, TD, Ireland’s Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, and Cllr Michael Browne, Chair of Development at Belfast City Council paid tribute the SME sector describing it as key driver for economic development. 
Prince Michael of Kent voiced his support for the vital contribution of SME to the global economy when he addressed delegates on Tuesday. 

Professor Barnett said: “It is wonderful to have so many delegates of distinction from home and abroad – entrepreneurs, policy workers, researchers, educators and financers. All of you are in Belfast to seek to further develop your understanding of  how to create the conditions for the development of the small business sector and the entrepreneurs who drive it – and rarely has our recognition of the sector’s worth to our economy come into such stark relief as in current times.”

The ISBC conference is being hosted by the University of Ulster. The main sponsors are Invest Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council, European Regional Development Fund, Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland, Federation of Small Businesses, the Small Firms Association in the Republic of Ireland and the Genesis Initiative.   

Professor Barnett paid warm tribute to Professor Ken O’Neill, Professor of Entrepreneurship & SME Development, University of Ulster, for building the University’s links to the two conferences over the years and for promoting and developing the twin specialist disciplines within the University.

The Vice Chancellor said it was the first time in 20 years that the ISBC had met in the UK and the first time on the island of Ireland.  

“I also understand that this is the third time in the life of ISBE (under its various guises) that the University of Ulster has hosted its annual conference – more than any other university. That is something of which we are very proud."

The ISBC has attracted business owners and policy makers from a wide range of countries in North America, the Far East, Europe, the UK and Ireland while delegates at the ISBE meeting are mainly academics involved in research and educating and training entrepreneurs. 

The conferences come as many SMEs face a twin threat – increasingly expensive borrowings and worsening cash flow. Delegates are debating how they can ease the bureaucratic burden on small businesses and also enable them to become more competitive and outward looking.

For further information, please contact:

Martin Cowley
Telephone: 028 71675083
Email: Martin Cowley