Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 16 March 2021
16 Mar 2021 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Global Capital Investment Plan
I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. I welcome the Scottish Government’s focus on attracting private capital investment to help grow our economy post Covid. We are very pleased to be able to support that ambition, although I wonder how many international investors will be attracted to a country whose Government is proposing another independence referendum in the course of 2021, with absolutely no certainty as to what currency they might be investing in should independence come about.
I will ask two questions of the minister. First, what due diligence will be done on potential investors, given the recent unhappy experience that we have seen with the GFG Alliance group, which is in serious financial difficulties? Secondly, although I welcome the emphasis in the minister’s paper on green growth, the oil and gas sector is still a very important part of the Scottish economy and a major employer, particularly in the north-east of the country. Can the minister assure us that nothing in the new plan will discourage international investment in oil and gas?
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Lewis Macdonald)
Lab
The next item of business is a statement by Ivan McKee on a global capital investment plan. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement, so ...
The Minister for Trade, Innovation and Public Finance (Ivan McKee)
SNP
Today, the Scottish Government is publishing its first global capital investment plan. I am pleased to outline to Parliament how we intend to pivot to a purp...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
The minister will take questions on the issues that are raised by his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions, after which we will move ...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. I welcome the Scottish Government’s focus on attracting private capital investment to help grow our ...
Ivan McKee
SNP
I thank Murdo Fraser for the questions. The answer to his first point is, of course, the pound. With regard to due diligence, the GFG scenario has impacted...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. At a time of global pandemic, looking forward and looking towards investment are hugely important....
Ivan McKee
SNP
Measurement is, of course, hugely important for tracking progress. Mr Johnson will be well aware that I always endeavour to ensure that that is part of any p...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
I am grateful for advance sight of the minister’s statement on global capitalism: it was all very much in character. The minister says that he wants Scotlan...
Ivan McKee
SNP
I am not quite sure where Patrick Harvie is going with that question. The reality is that private capital investment is hugely important to Scotland’s econom...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
The minister is right that Scotland can offer good opportunities in ethical investment. That strategy might have been of assistance when the Scottish Governm...
Ivan McKee
SNP
Willie Rennie follows these matters closely, so he will be aware that we recently published “Scotland’s Vision for Trade”, on which I answered questions in t...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
I ask for succinct questions and answers, please. I will try to get everyone in.
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
I warmly welcome the statement. Scotland has long suffered from chronic underinvestment, which impacts on productivity, employment growth and prosperity, a...
Ivan McKee
SNP
“Investing with Purpose: Scotland’s Global Capital Investment Plan” identifies the sectors in Scotland’s economy that have demonstrated the greatest resilien...
Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
The minister said that part of the plan is about “taking action to increase the viability and fit of what private capital markets want to invest in and the...
Ivan McKee
SNP
Absolutely. Investors will be attracted by the opportunity of a Scotland that is able to chart its own course in the world. When they look at the top 10 econ...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
The minister mentioned green ports. Could he expand on that point? Is he particularly looking for investment in green ports? What would the relationship be w...
Ivan McKee
SNP
Clearly, it is a private capital investment plan to support the structures whereby investors would seek out and be aware of investment opportunities in Scotl...
Colin Smyth (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The communities that would arguably benefit most from capital investment are peripheral rural areas that suffer weaker economic indicators, such as Dumfries ...
Ivan McKee
SNP
The regional aspect is as central to “Investing with Purpose” as it was to our FDI plan, “Shaping Scotland’s Economy”, which we produced at the end of last y...
Bruce Crawford (Stirling) (SNP)
SNP
I listened carefully to the answer that the minister gave to Colin Smyth. Will the minister provide further information on what steps can be taken to ensure ...
Ivan McKee
SNP
I thank Bruce Crawford for his question, which allows me to reinforce the centrality of the regional approach to the capital investment plan. Global capital...
Graham Simpson (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
The minister will be well aware that the Scottish Government’s track record on investing in private businesses is decidedly ropey. It is so bad that the Audi...
Ivan McKee
SNP
It is a private capital investment plan, which is about attracting private capital into Scotland’s economy. If he has read the plan, Graham Simpson will know...
Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP)
SNP
What steps can the Government take to ensure that investments will translate into high-quality jobs for the people of Scotland? In line with the questions of...
Ivan McKee
SNP
Capital investment creates jobs in the economy, and the plan focuses our collective efforts around the four key sectors that our analysis has shown are the m...
Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
How will the Scottish Government help to facilitate the shift from what risk being high-carbon stranded assets to the sectors of the future? Will there be gu...
Ivan McKee
SNP
Claudia Beamish will be aware that the transition to net zero is at the core of the plan. We make it clear that the focus of anything that we do in that rega...
Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP)
SNP
In response to an earlier question, the minister mentioned GDP, which we know is not the only measure of economic success. In my mind, the recognition of wel...
Ivan McKee
SNP
The choices that are set out in the plan explicitly seek to focus effort on attracting investment that generates wider spillover benefits and that aligns wit...