I will make a brief opening statement. The Government welcomes the committee’s inquiry into internationalising Scottish business. The inquiry is clearly relevant to our economic strategy which—as members will be aware—is focused on the concepts of strengthening innovation, investment, inclusive growth and internationalisation. Many of the issues that are raised by the inquiry will be relevant to our further consideration of those topics.
Growing and diversifying Scotland’s export base by helping Scottish companies to recognise and grasp international opportunities is essential to rebalancing the Scottish economy and improving long-term economic performance. That concept is implicitly recognised and accepted in our economic strategy.
The committee will be aware from its work in the inquiry that Scotland has many successful and growing trade links around the world. That has helped to increase Scottish exports by 20 per cent between 2010 and 2013, which is giving us confidence that we are on track to achieving our target of increasing the value of exports by 50 per cent between 2010 and 2017.
Although Scotland’s overall export performance has improved since the committee’s inquiry into support for exporters and international trade back in 2010, opportunities for further growth remain. The Government will of course consider the issues that are raised by the inquiry as part of that effort.
Companies face challenges in undertaking international business activity. The “Wilson Review of Support for Scottish Exporting” identified access to finance as
“the most significant barrier faced by SMEs seeking to turn themselves into exporters”.
The latest “SME Access to Finance Report 2014”, which was published today—I believe that it has been shared with the committee—shows that Scottish firms seeking funding are finding it easier to access finance now than they did two years ago.
The Government will publish an updated international framework, which will set out our strategic objectives to enhance our global outlook, strengthen our external relationships, build our reputation and international attractiveness, and encourage engagement with the European Union. The updated framework will set out how activity in support of those objectives will help us to achieve our internationalisation goals.
We are also working on an updated trade and investment strategy to build on the strategy that has been in place from 2011 to 2015. We expect the updated strategy to be published in the autumn, which will give us the opportunity to reflect on the issues that are raised by the committee’s inquiry.