Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce firmly believes that in order to grow the private sector in Northern Ireland a reduction in corporation tax is required.

The Chamber has been at the forefront of initiatives to help companies boost sales abroad and through its support for a substantial cut in the current Corporation Tax rate.

It is essential that Teresa Villiers, the recently appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, adopts the commitment of her predecessor, Owen Patterson, and step up pressure of the Treasury to agree to a measure that, the business community here is convinced, will bolster our competitiveness in terms of attracting a higher level of inward investment and to promote faster growth among existing companies.

The measure makes sound business sense for Northern Ireland and is probably the only way to help bring our competitiveness closer to the UK average. In addition, greater access for smaller companies to private finance would help in restoring confidence within business. For instance, of 276 million euro invested by venture capitalists in Ireland last year, only 10 per cent went to companies in Northern Ireland.

Increased inward investment will provide opportunities for indigenous businesses to supply products and services. This will result in capacity building with the Northern Ireland SME as well as increased employment.

A report from the Northern Ireland Economic Reform Group last year estimated that a reduction in the rate of corporation tax to 12.5% could lead to the creation of 90,000 new jobs over a 20 year period. Whilst the number of new jobs cannot be guaranteed and is based on certain assumptions, the clear overall principal is that a reduction in the rate of corporation tax to 12.5% would result in a very significant number of jobs being created over the long term.

The June 2011 NI Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey was one of the largest surveys carried out amongst business in Northern Ireland with almost 500 responses. When asked if they thought that the NI Assembly should have the power to set its own rate of corporation tax, only 6% of businesses said no. Therefore there is significant support within the local business community for the devolution of the power.

The Chamber is also currently at the forefront of GROW NI, the largest ever representative group of local business organisations and individual companies to come together in Northern Ireland to call for the devolution of power on corporation tax to the NI Assembly.