LONDON, June 6: A delegation of high-powered US business leaders arrives on Sunday in Northern Ireland to promote the peace dividend expected in the wake of the recent referendums approving a peace deal for the province.US Commerce Secretary William Daley, heading the trade mission, hopes that American investors will build on their already strong presence in Northern Ireland, in turn, helping the province to cement its fragile peace process.``Trade and investment will support peace. Peace and economic stability go hand in hand,'' Daley said, echoing a theme pushed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President Bill Clinton, one of the peace accord's most vocal backers.Accompanying Daley will be representatives from companies as varied as the high-tech Boeing, Motorola, General Electric, Pitney Bowes, clothing manufacturer Fruit of the Loom, and food producer Sara Lee Corporation. The companies were selected partly because they match business growth areas in the province.Fruit of the Loom,for example, already employs 3,200 people in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, making T-shirts and fleece products.The trade mission will begin with meetings with local business, community leaders and young entrepreneurs in Belfast.Emphasis will be put on the economic imperatives of trade crossing the border with the Republic of Ireland, which has become the fastest growing economy of all the western industrialised nations.It saw 7.7 per cent growth in GDP in 1996 and an estimated eight per cent growth in 1997.
