CBI - offices - Northern Ireland - joint business council

In association with InterTradeIreland the IBEC/CBI Joint Business Council jointly commissioned the Freight Transport Report for the Island of Ireland (PDF 2.09mb). The study for the Island of Ireland makes 21 recommendations which would benefit trade and business on both sides of the border. These include updating out-of-date and inaccurate forecasting tools to take account of population growth projections; increasing port capacity; improving bottlenecks at access routes to ports Rosslare; constructing an Eastern port access route; giving the go ahead for the proposed Leinster Outer Orbital route and involving hauliers in transport planning.

IBEC-CBI JBC 20-point action plan

The JBC 20-point plan (PDF 176kb) sets out key priorities distilled from over 100 recommendations contained in six north-south reports published in 2004, covering telecommunications, energy, waste management, supply chain/transportation, business/education linkages and cross-border mobility. The JBC continues to work on these specific priorities, the main objective of which is to improve business competitiveness throughout the island. Read the original press release (PDF 100kb).

The reports

Supply chain logistics and transportation report
Cross-border report
Education-business links report
Energy report
Telecomms for SME competitiveness report
Waste management report
Older publications

Supply chain logistics and transportation report

The island of Ireland is highly dependent on its transport infrastructure for goods and services. Issues surrounding supply chain logistics affect business on a daily basis. To improve competitiveness and become key players in the global economy it is essential that we take a serious look at the definition and scope of the supply chain, transportation, our infrastructure and all that it entails.

Commissioned by InterTradeIreland, in partnership with the IBEC/CBI Joint Business Council, Supply chain logistics and transportation on the island of Ireland – an integrated study (PDF 584kb) is one of the most comprehensive studies within this sphere, and is a must read for any business, large or small.

Cross-border report

Completion of the Single European Market at the end of 1992 was heralded as an event of enormous consequence for all the peoples of the European Community. The removal of barriers between regions had a special relevance to industry in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The report, Promoting cross-border employment and removing barriers to cross-border mobility (PDF 728kb) sets out the background to making employment mobility a reality on the island of Ireland and specifically within the INTERREG region, which covers all of Northern Ireland and the six border counties of the Republic of Ireland (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan).

Education-business links report

The scope and structure of Improving education-business links in the INTERREG cross-border region - an integrated study (PDF 244kb) inherently recognises the importance of education colleges and institutes of technology north and south to business in terms of developing skills and increasing innovation and entrepreneurship. The study sought to identify any education – business issues that might be impeding north-south trade, to recommend appropriate actions and to promote best practice and increase business development.

Energy report

The creation of an all-island energy market has been the subject of increasing discussion over recent years. The purpose of The creation of an all-island energy market - a statement by the IBEC-CBI Joint Business Council (PDF 596kb) is to articulate the reasons why the business community in both jurisdictions supports the overall strategic direction of the creation of an all-island energy market.

Telecomms for SME competitiveness report

The scope and structure of Promoting cross-border SME competitiveness through improved telecommunications networks and connectivity – an integrated study (PDF 864kb) recognises the importance of telecommunications in globally competitive supply chains with related infrastructure availability and demand issues for SME’s. The study’s main objective therefore was to facilitate the development of north-south trade by identifying issues critical to SME’s and evaluating policies and appropriate actions to make SME’s more competitive to trade on and off the island.

Waste management report

The management of waste represents one of the major challenges that we as a society face today. Waste is produced by all sections of our society – businesses large and small, households, local authorities and government departments. By definition we are all stakeholders in waste management and we all have an interest in and a contribution to make to the future management of the wastes that we as a society produce. Waste continues to be high on the public, political and business agendas. Therefore the recommendations in Waste management in the INTERREG cross-border region from an SME perspective – an integrated study (PDF 520kb) recognise the need to build a competitive waste industry to service the needs of the communities and businesses across the island.

Older publications

Cross-border opportunities
(PDF 310kb)
Developing north-south software quality networks
(PDF 320kb)
The supply chain - leveraging competitive advantage
(PDF 316kb).
Telecommunications for e-business - a user's guide
is available in hard copy format.

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JBC Publications

Freight transport 2020 study published