Question reference: S6W-16523
- Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 30 March 2023
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Current status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 April 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much additional investment it expects will be generated by the increase to the International Trade and Investment budget line in the Scottish Budget 2023-24.
Answer
The International Trade and Investment budget funds the delivery of three key plans. These are: A Trading Nation - Scotland's Export Growth Plan; Scotland's Inward Investment Plan and Scotland's Global Capital Investment Plan. Together these work to deliver economic growth as well as a stronger, fairer, greener Scotland that benefits everyone. They enable Scotland to be a highly productive and innovative place to live, work and do business on a global scale.
Evidence shows that our plans are working:
In terms of Inward Investment –
- The EY Annual Attractiveness Survey 2022 showed that Scotland has been the top performing region or nation of the UK, outside of London, in attracting FDI, for the past 7 years.
- Scotland’s FDI projects outpaced Europe and the rest of the UK – Scottish projects were up by 14% from 2020, compared to 5.4% increase in Europe and 1.8% per cent increase in UK.
In terms of Exports –
- Comparing with the previous year, when oil and gas are excluded, Scotland’s international goods exports increased by 20.5% in 2022 compared to 2021. This compares to a 13.3% increase for the UK.
International Trade and Investment’s budget for 2023-24 will be targeted towards the next phase of delivery which will:
- Set the direction on new Market Opportunities to attract high quality inward investment (and associated spill over benefits) and the technologies required to deliver our ambitions in areas such as Energy Transition, focusing on Scotwind and Hydrogen, Space, and Decarbonisation.
- Scale up Scotland’s trade promotion, international reach and profile; promoting Scotland on world stage at key events such as COP28.
- Continue targeted support to enhance our firms’ export capacity. In particular, delivering three Sector Export Plans (SEP) – Life Sciences, Technology and Renewables and the development of a Hydrogen SEP to support the growth of renewables exports from Scotland and identifying new and critical markets
- Push forward our capital plans to support the economy, including exceeding our commitment to the annual capitalisation of the Scottish National Investment Bank, and renewing support for the enterprise agencies and delivery partners.