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
Catriona Radcliffe
Watch on SPTV
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 2022 when China was in the middle of the pandemic and it still had its dynamic zero-Covid policy. That changed in December 2022. Our office had a clear purpose for this year’s goals, which was to re-engage and reinvigorate the links with China following the pandemic and across the three pillars that I referred to earlier, which would bring benefits to Scotland. It was nothing too complicated, and that was our overall purpose. For the first six months, we focused on getting out and about around China to engage with local government, which is really important for us as we take a whole-of-government approach. As an office, we travelled to several places including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Kunming. The second half of the year was all about getting external visitors in and engaging at the senior level. We had a visit from the director of external affairs in the Scottish Government a couple of months ago, which was followed by Mr Robertson’s visit in November. For us, this year has been about re-engaging and reinvigorating our links. As for what success would look like for me at the end of this posting, I am a career diplomat and have been a diplomat for more than 20 years, and this role with the Scottish Government has been great, because it means that I can join up the experience of being a diplomat with my Scottish background. For me, success would mean having delivered something of value and benefit to Scotland by the end of my tenure. That is not always easy to do, however. To pick out one thing and provide an extra dimension, this year, under the social policy part of the people-to-people pillar we have been working on sharing how the Scottish Government approaches its policy on alleviating poverty, particularly period poverty. We shared updates about that on our social media accounts last year. That got really good traction in China and generated a lot of debate. We followed up on that this year by working with a local non-governmental organisation to bring more of a spotlight to that issue. Talking about that issue was also an element of Mr Robertson’s visit programme. If I can build on that during the rest of my time here with my team and try to make a difference in that area, that would be a sign of success and progress. 10:45
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...