Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 11 September 2025
11 Sep 2025 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Exports
I will be happy to, in a second.
The target was to increase the value of international exports to 25 per cent of GDP by 2029. Of course, we took a hit on exports in the Covid years, when the figure dipped to 19 per cent. In 2019, it was 20 per cent. I believe that the cabinet secretary has just said that we are still at 20 per cent. Six years on from 2019—I have noted the issues that we had during Covid—we are five percentage points away from hitting the target. We need to ramp up our activity in that area. I still think that we can get to 25 per cent by 2029.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-18795, in the name of Kate Forbes, on supporting Scottish exports in response to global uncertainty. 15:27
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic (Kate Forbes)
SNP
Scotland is a trading nation. We have a long and rich history of producing goods and services that are highly regarded and sought-after across the world. Man...
Craig Hoy (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
Will the minister take an intervention?
Kate Forbes
SNP
I have high hopes for a well-informed debate that looks at all the issues this afternoon, starting with Craig Hoy.
Craig Hoy
Con
I thank the minister for giving way and I welcome her commitment to global free trade. Can she therefore point to a single global free trade agreement that h...
Kate Forbes
SNP
The member will recall how warmly I welcomed the India free trade agreement and how strongly I commended it because of the opportunities for growth, in parti...
Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
I hate to disappoint the Deputy First Minister, but if she looks at the robust performance of British business in terms of exports to the EU from 2015 to 202...
Kate Forbes
SNP
That cues me up very nicely to commend the results from Scottish Enterprise-supported businesses last year. Scottish Enterprise supported £2.46 billion in pl...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
I am very grateful to the Deputy First Minister for giving way—she is always very generous in that way. The original paper “A Trading Nation: a plan for gro...
Kate Forbes
SNP
If it is okay to do so, I will come on to talk about “A Trading Nation” and will set out a little more of the details. Our analysis has shown that, as a res...
Stephen Kerr
Con
No wonder—it was during Covid.
Kate Forbes
SNP
I hear the member saying, “No wonder”. I think that that makes the point that it was—
Stephen Kerr
Con
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
Kate Forbes
SNP
I am four minutes in and that would be the fourth intervention, so I will keep going. We can all agree that exporters need additional support, and we are pr...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I can give you a bit more time.
Kate Forbes
SNP
Thank you. I am very confident that Scotland and our exporters have the capacity, potential and ambition to continue to take advantage of the shifting oppo...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests—specifically in relation to the hospitality that I have received from the Scotch Whisky As...
Daniel Johnson
Lab
I agree with the member about the importance of defence contracts. Does he agree that we need to extend every possible support to Babcock in its efforts to e...
Murdo Fraser
Con
Absolutely. Indeed, Mr Johnson has pre-empted my very next sentence, because I was about to talk about Babcock in Rosyth, which is part of the area that I re...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
As colleagues will have picked up on, we have a bit of time in hand, so members will get time back for any interventions and probably latitude over and above...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer—I always enjoy a bit of latitude. Given the rekindled enthusiasm for independence that we have seen from the Government ...
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
Actually, first, I thank Daniel Johnson for taking an intervention. Today’s Financial Times reported that US pharmaceutical giant Merck has cancelled a £1 bi...
Daniel Johnson
Lab
Kenny Gibson’s party seeks to introduce new frontiers and barriers. It is very difficult to talk about stability and certainty from the position of the SNP b...
Daniel Johnson
Lab
Just a moment. The reality—according to the numbers that I have seen—is that that proportion has risen to only 21 per cent, and there has been no progress i...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I apologise that I failed to respond to Daniel Johnson’s intervention. He just cited 21 per cent, but I was going to go with 20 per cent, so it is currently ...
Daniel Johnson
Lab
I would be grateful for that. I say to the Deputy First Minister that there might well be interesting phenomena and dynamics—or even initiatives—but we have ...
Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (LD)
LD
I am pleased to be speaking in my eighth debate this week—it has been quite a week. I will try to stick to exports and not confuse it with any of the other t...
Kate Forbes
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Jamie Greene
LD
I will be happy to, in a second. The target was to increase the value of international exports to 25 per cent of GDP by 2029. Of course, we took a hit on ex...
Kate Forbes
SNP
I should have made this intervention in Daniel Johnson’s speech. We published a formal review of the export strategy in 2023. I want to clarify that, today, ...