Scotland's Economy

  • Stronger Scottish and Japanese life sciences links

    8th May 2013 by

    Geographically the cities of Kyoto and Edinburgh are far removed. Intellectually, culturally and economically our two cities are becoming ever closer. That proximity was further reinforced this week when Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney met with key Japanese businesses working in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine here in Kyoto. The links…

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  • Exploring new opportunities in Osaka

    18th April 2012 by

    The third and final day of the Japan leg of my trip started with a call to Rolto, an existing investor in Scotland who own Mentholatum in East Kilbride. We talked over the expansion of the company’s product range and will work with them to try to make the most of this opportunity in Scotland.

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  • Scottish produce top of the menu in Japan

    17th April 2012 by

    An early start to day two of my Japan visit and the focus continues to be on Scotland’s growth industries. Over lunchtime, Scottish Development International put together an excellent event to showcase Scotland’s wonderful food and drink – one of our largest export successes.

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  • Doing business in Japan

    17th April 2012 by

    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.

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