Scotland's Economy

Doing business in Japan

April 17, 2012 by John Swinney MSP No Comments | Category Exports, Investment

I am writing this at the end of my first full day of meetings and visits in Japan with the team from Scottish Development International. In addition to a broad knowledge of the opportunities in the Japanese economy, they have developed real strength in the various sectors that matter to us; energy, life sciences, food and drink, textiles and working with our universities.

I was absolutely delighted to see at the SDI offices that one of the food products our team were highlighting was Perthshire’s Heather Hills Honey, produced in Bridge of Cally. It’s extremely encouraging to see Scottish companies – large and small – selling their products abroad, especially as this trip is designed to boost exports.

There was more good news with the announcement of the investment by Mitsui and Co taking a 25 per cent stake in Global Energy which is developing offshore energy opportunities at Nigg. This is another massive vote of confidence in our renewables sector and a further indication of the willingness of Japanese companies to invest in these ventures. Backing up investment and testing by Kawasaki and Mitsubishi. Great news for Scotland.

The day ended with a really well-attended reception for investors and distributors of Scottish products at the British Embassy. The enthusiasm to do business in Scotland was palpable and the quality and range of food products from Scotland were excellent.

My speech to the reception was on the theme of Scotland and Japan working together. And we had a very visual symbol of that process. In the aftermath of the tsunami and earthquake disaster last year, seven Scottish distilleries came together to produce a blended single malt, the proceeds from which are donated to disaster relief support. We had arranged to have a bottle available to taste. What better way to toast the friendship between Scotland and Japan!

Looking forward tomorrow to another opportunity to promote Scotland’s excellent produce to some of the most influential buyers and writers at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

Tags: food and drink, Japan, life sciences, offshore energy, Scottish Development International, textiles

Comments