Committee
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee 14 December 2023
14 Dec 2023 · S6 · Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Item of business
National Outcomes
Christopher Thomson
Watch on SPTV
I could not agree more with our Irish counterparts that soft power plays a big part. I work in collaboration with Scottish Development International, our international trade body. We set joint objectives during the year, we have a joint business plan and, last time I checked, we had about 130 or 140 different activities during the year. It is about using our way in to talk about what Scotland does. Particularly in the US, when people imagine Scotland—we use the word “imagine” deliberately—they think of “Braveheart”, “Outlander” or other versions of Scotland that are rooted in the past. There is a lot of love for that—for whisky and tartan and traditional versions of Scotland. Through soft power, we bring people into conversations and then say, “But did you know this?” For example, in the US, we have a huge relationship with the space sector, because Scotland produces more small satellites than anywhere else outside the US. Once we start having those conversations, we talk about where Scotland is now. Those conversations lead us to trade, investment and modern versions of Scotland rather than just the traditional versions. For example, we recently had a reception on Capitol Hill for staffers and members, in collaboration with the Scotch Whisky Association and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, which is the SWA’s counterpart. They wanted to talk about tariffs on whisky. However, in the room, we happened to talk about space with a bunch of Floridian chiefs of staff from Congress. As an upshot of that, we have a meeting scheduled for January to talk to a delegation from Florida as well as the Science, Space and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives about Scotland’s space sector and what we can do to collaborate and work more closely on that. We spend our entire year exercising that little bit of soft power—bringing people in with the version of Scotland that they are familiar and comfortable with and then beginning to talk to them about something more substantive. We see benefits from that approach and we are working to do more and more of it throughout the year.
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Our next agenda item is to take evidence on the committee’s inquiry into the Scottish Government’s national outcomes and indicators relating to international...
Catriona Radcliffe (Scottish Government)
Hello. My name is pronounced “Catrina”, without the “o” sound. Thank you for inviting me and my colleagues in Washington and Copenhagen to this morning’s ev...
Katrine Feldinger (Scottish Government)
It is good to see that the technology is working—happy days. To add to what Catriona Radcliffe just said, the main purpose of all diplomatic and intelligenc...
Christopher Thomson (Scottish Government)
I echo what Catriona Radcliffe and Katrine Feldinger have said. We do a huge amount of work to ensure that we hold ourselves to account regarding what we do ...
The Convener
SNP
I have asked the broadcasting staff to turn the sound up. We can hear you, but we are straining a little. They have turned it up now.
Christopher Thomson
I am also trying not to speak so loudly that I wake up my wife, because it is 5.30 in the morning here in DC.
The Convener
SNP
You have my sympathies and apologies.
Christopher Thomson
Worse things have happened. We know the outcomes that we are trying to contribute to. We want to be globally competitive, entrepreneurial and have a sustain...
The Convener
SNP
I have another question about the national indicators. Some of them, including the indicators for reputation and for international exporting, apply to Scotla...
Christopher Thomson
I could not agree more with our Irish counterparts that soft power plays a big part. I work in collaboration with Scottish Development International, our int...
Katrine Feldinger
In addition to our use of soft power through conversation openers—of which, as Chris stated, we do quite a lot—we have an incredible brand to work with. It h...
Catriona Radcliffe
Soft power plays a massive part in our work here in China. We focus that work across three pillars: climate and biodiversity; what we call our people-to-peop...
The Convener
SNP
Were those 220,000 views from within China or globally?
Catriona Radcliffe
They were within China.
The Convener
SNP
Thank you. We will move to questions from the committee, starting with Kate Forbes.
Kate Forbes
SNP
I am delighted that you could join us, particularly at the unearthly hour of 5 am. Each of you will be working towards the Scottish Government’s overall obj...
The Convener
SNP
Does Kat from the Copenhagen office want to respond? I am getting confused with the Katrines and Catrionas.
Katrine Feldinger
You can stick with calling me Kat, if you like, and Catriona Radcliffe can be Catriona for today. That is absolutely fine. It is nice to see you again, Ms ...
Kate Forbes
SNP
Indeed.
Katrine Feldinger
The short answer is that, any time we take on what is essentially a start-up within Government territory, the first set of objectives is about getting it rig...
Catriona Radcliffe
This is a really nice question to get and to be able to answer, so thank you for asking it, Ms Forbes. On short-term goals, I started in my role in July 20...
Christopher Thomson
I hope that you can hear me. We have six in-year objectives in the US office. Some of them, such as enhancing reputation, are not entirely measurable, as we ...
Kate Forbes
SNP
Obviously, I would not ask you to comment on political matters, but it is really interesting how Scotland maximises the brand that Kat talked about. In a sen...
Christopher Thomson
Culture and diaspora are hugely important for us. Ensuring that awareness of Scotland is important. Our brand across the world is “Scotland is now”. A lot of...
Catriona Radcliffe
On higher education and supporting the links in higher education, members should consider that 25 per cent of all international students at higher education ...
Katrine Feldinger
In a sense, you are getting three of the big priorities for all of the offices here: diaspora, higher education and—I will add the third one—energy. Our focu...
Kate Forbes
SNP
That is great. I am grateful for those answers.
Donald Cameron
Con
Good morning everyone, and thank you for being with us today. I have a short question for Christopher Thomson on something that he just said about culture an...
Christopher Thomson
There is a huge amount of potential for Scotland, particularly in the US, where—this touches on what Catriona Radcliffe said—there are a lot of Scottish univ...
Donald Cameron
Con
That is an interesting answer. This is just my personal view, but I think that there is a lot to be done and that is an area in which the international offic...