Swinney aims to boost China ties TRADE: DEVELOPMENT

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Sep 14, 2008 | by Colin Donald

CABINET secretary for finance John Swinney flies to China next week to press for stronger trade ties between Scottish businesses and their Chinese counterparts, while stressing that stronger links to the burgeoning Chinese economy are "more important than ever" during a global downturn.

Swinney will attend the first AsiaPacific regional GlobalScot conference in Hong Kong, organised by Scottish Enterprise to bring together members of the GlobalScot network from the Asia and Pacific markets with Scottish companies looking to do business in the Far East. He will then travel to Shanghai for the annual China International Finance Forum (CIFF) to promote Scotland's fi nancial services sector to potential Chinese investors Swinney said: " There can be few more important places to do this than China. Scottish exports to China have more than doubled since 2002. But I want Scotland to do even better in the years to come. China is still only ranked 14th in terms of destinations for Scottish exports - proving that there's still real potential for more Scottish companies to break into and succeed in the Chinese market place. The government - in particular through Scottish Development International - will help companies expand internationally wherever we can and SDI supported over 80 Scottish companies in their internationalisation efforts in China last year.

"There is equally huge potential for us to sell Scotland to Chinese companies as a place to invest. As yet China is still an emerging country in terms of its overseas direct investment. So there are undoubtedly real, potentially vast opportunities to attract Chinese knowledge and investment into Scotland. We could be on the cusp of a new era for inward investment across the world - dominated by China."

More than 50 GlobalScots and representatives from more than 20 Scottish companies and universities will attend the two-day Hong Kong event, with companies from the energy, financial services and life-sciences sectors represented.

GlobalScot is a high-level network made up of internationally based Scots or Scots-friendly business people, and claims to have helped thousands of Scottish organisations with their growth plans by providing "advice, access and aspiration".