Scotland's Economy

  • Scottish Development International Annual Results

    30th May 2012 by

    Getting companies to invest in their growth is vital if we are to get Scotland's economy moving again. That's why I was delighted to announce SDI's annual results this month, which show how we've been supporting Scottish companies to take advantage of new international trade opportunities.

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  • Opening of £24m bio-incubator facility at Edinburgh BioQuarter

    29th May 2012 by

    By creating a cluster of scientists, clinicians and companies located on a single site we are confident that not only will we attract world-class life sciences companies and individual scientists to Scotland but will boost the rate of formation and growth of new science and technology ventures.

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  • Scotland’s food champions

    24th May 2012 by

    Tourism and food and drink are both key sectors when it comes to growing Scotland’s economy and the Scottish Food Champions initiative, which I have announced today, will bring the two together.

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  • Scottish Apprenticeship Week

    24th May 2012 by

    As a company, we offer young people another route into the engineering sector, enabling them to gain work experience and qualifications at the same time. We are delighted to support Scottish Apprenticeship Week, which is organised by Skills Development Scotland (SDS).

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  • Yes to Growth

    18th May 2012 by

    This week we launched a new campaign, ‘Yes to Growth’, to stimulate Scottish companies to invest in their growth. If a company has an idea or project that will help it grow, we want to hear about it and positively help make growth a reality.

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  • US marine energy conference recognises Scotland’s global lead

    14th May 2012 by

    After previously attending the Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference (GMREC) in Washington DC in 2010, I was asked this year to deliver a keynote speech. Scotland’s global lead in marine renewable energy attracted international interest and this time around, there was a heightened awareness of Scotland’s global lead with most of the speakers referring to Scotland in their presentations.

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  • New life sciences centre for Moray

    8th May 2012 by

    Moray Life Science Centre

    It was a great pleasure to see the first turf being cut at the new life science centre in Elgin on Friday. The creation of the £6.5m Alexander Graham Bell Centre is an exciting step forward in providing the facilities Moray needs to be at the forefront of delivering innovative healthcare systems for the future.

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  • Scotland showcases offshore expertise

    1st May 2012 by

    Attended by 70,000 delegates and 2000 exhibiting companies from over 110 countries, OTC represents a huge opportunity for Scottish businesses to develop new global trading opportunities.

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  • Say ‘yes’ to leadership for growth

    26th April 2012 by

    This morning I spoke to around a hundred Scottish companies on the topic of leadership for growth at the B2B Scotland 2012 event. I try to highlight this topic as often as possible as I firmly believe that leadership has not received the prominence it should have.

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  • Showcasing Scotland in Korea

    20th April 2012 by

    The final day of my trip to Korea begins with a media conference to explain the purpose of the trip - to pursue Korean investment and to promote Scottish business interests. I am accompanied by Frank Boyland and Howard Jang (both of SDI in Asia), Adrian Gillespie (Energy Director of Scottish Enterprise) and Ewen Cameron (SDI Head of Food, Drink and Textiles).

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