To ask the Minister for the Economy for an update on progress made by the Northern Ireland Export Forum in relation to setting ambitious targets for 2030 exports.

The Export Forum has met regularly since its establishment in April 2023. Recognising the virtuous circle between exporting, innovation and productivity, one of the Forum’s first actions was to agree a stretching ambition to grow external sales intensity (total sales outside of the North as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product) to 60% by 2030, from a baseline of 45% in 2019. Achieving this would place the North amongst the world’s highest performing small advanced economies.