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The Deputy First Minister undertook a successful visit to India (New Delhi and Bangalore) between 24 – 28 November 2018, to strengthen the growing business, cultural and educational links between Scotland and the world’s fastest growing major economy.

The visit highlighted Scotland’s expertise in Innovation, primarily focused on the Technology, Life Sciences and Energy sectors. The Deputy First Minister was accompanied by 15 experts in these fields from six Scottish Universities, who engaged with Indian universities and businesses with a view to promoting trade and investment partnerships. In collaboration with key industry associations and partners including the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), leading Indian Life Sciences company Biocon and the Scotch Whisky Association, the Deputy First Minister hosted four thought leadership events aimed at engaging with key trade and investment prospects to highlight Scotland’s strengths. The Deputy First Minister engaged with key investors such as Genpact, Hinduja Global Solutions, Wipro and new investors/collaborators (including Biocon, Oyo Hotels and drug discovery services company Aurigene) to understand their operations and plans for Scotland.

As a result of the visit, Hinduja Global Solutions, a significant investor in Scotland, have announced the creation of 150 new jobs in Selkirk. and the University of Glasgow and Biocon Limited signed an MoU to facilitate joint PHD programmes between the two organisations focusing on disease biology (oncology, diabetes and auto-immune diseases), as well as technologies covering discovery, analytics and development of biologics. The Deputy First Minister also met with the two Edinburgh University graduates who formed Carbon Masters – an innovative business turning food waste into biofuel and organic manure - that just won a major £1.5 million waste recycling contract with the Bangalore Municipal Authority.

The Deputy First Minister had a constructive meeting with Suresh Prabhu, the Minister for Commerce and Industry, which further strengthened bilateral relations. In this meeting, the Deputy First Minister outlined the focus of his programme and discussed how India and Scotland might collaborate across a range of areas including Life Sciences and entrepreneurship.

The Deputy First Minister highlighted Scotland’s expertise in social enterprise, announcing the second year of funding for the Scotland:India Impact Link programme. This programme, supported by the Scottish Government, provides investment and training for Indian social enterprises backed up with mentoring from Scottish social enterprises, through the Social Enterprise Academy in India.

The Deputy First Minister met recipients of the first round of funding, including Prosoc Innovators who have devised a unique solution to help underprivileged children having the right furniture at home and school to support their studies. The DESKIT, a normal school bag that is convertible into a study table, has benefitted more than 7,000 students in 10 Indian states so far.

While in New Delhi the Deputy First Minister visited Lemon Tree Hotels, to witness a Scotland-India partnership with Glasgow Kelvin College which will facilitate access to training and employment for people with supported learning needs in both countries.

This is a unique partnership developing brand new training and college education frameworks for people with supported learning needs to enable them to access full time roles on the same basis as non-disabled people. The partnership supports social justice objectives in both countries including the Fairer Scotland Action Plan. Social Security Scotland are supporting the initiative and will look at building learning from this programme into their employment practice.

While visiting Lemon Tree Hotels, the Deputy First Minister was also presented with a copy of Being Reshma , the book written by acid attack survivor Reshma Qureshi whom he met on his previous visit to India. Reshma was accompanied by Tania Singh from the NGO, Make Love Not Scars. The Deputy First Minister has provided sleeve notes for the book, which is to be published in the UK next year.

The Deputy First Minister attended a round table discussion hosted by British Council and NITI Aayog, one of India’s leading policy think tanks, with six Scottish and five Indian universities themed on Data and Innovation. Connections between Scottish and Indian Universities were identified and new research partnerships explored.

While in New Delhi, the Deputy First Minister attended a Visit Scotland Travel Trade Roundtable, where key companies from the Indian travel trade and airlines were represented. Scotland was promoted as a place to visit and tourism links were discussed.

In Delhi, the Deputy First Minister attended a dinner with chief executives from Indian oil and gas companies, to look at opportunities for Indian and Scottish companies to work together in this field. In order to drive this further collaboration, Scottish Development International have started recruiting for an energy specialist in India.

In Bangalore, the Deputy First Minister formally launched the Berambadi Primary School Waste Water Treatment Plant. This unique collaboration, funded through the Scottish Government’s Hydro Nation International programme, has seen Scotland’s James Hutton Institute working with Indian partners, piloting new technology to provide clean water and sanitation to a school of 200 pupils.

The Deputy First Minister attended two St Andrew’s Day receptions, and formally launched the Scotland Is Now campaign in India. The events showcased Scotland as a place to work, study and invest in, and encouraged and forged good relationships with the Indian business, culture, tourism and education sectors, as well as promoting Scottish food, drink and creative industries. At both events he met alumni from Scottish universities, to understand the impact that studying in Scotland has made.

The Deputy First Minister also took the opportunity to raise the case of Jagtar Singh Johal, with both the UK and Indian Governments.

The Deputy First Minister had media engagements with Indian business papers Business Standard and Hindu Business Line and the visit generated positive media coverage in both Scotland and India, both on social and print media.

Older people in rural communities benefit from a variety of actions this government take. These include affordable housing, free personal and nursing care and ongoing investment in digital participation. Our budget also confirmed additional investment in domestic energy efficiency programmes to combat fuel poverty; and our commitment to ensuring sustainability of the Concessionary Travel Scheme. And yesterday we published our innovative social isolation and loneliness strategy to foster local connections and empower communities.

Next year I will publish an Older People’s Framework to highlight the positive contributions older bring to communities, and tackle the barriers they face.

The Scottish Government will publish today at 14:00 an assessment of the UK Government’s proposed future relationship with the EU at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781787814226/ .

Our analysis highlights in particular the detrimental impact this deal will have on the Scottish economy, in particular on the services sector - around three quarters of the Scottish economy and on our iconic exporting sectors such as food, fishing and aquaculture. The analysis also sets out the potential impact of the deal on security and justice cooperation, and on public services such as health and care.

We do not accept that the only alternative is no deal. The UK Government is offering a false choice which must be rejected. We have been consistently clear that, short of EU membership, the best outcome would be continued permanent membership of the European Single Market and Customs Union, and that we support a second EU referendum with the option to remain.

A ‘no-deal’ Brexit’ is extremely irresponsible and would have significant economic and social costs for the UK as a whole, as well major implications for our international festivals and events. The least damaging option for the UK would be to have continued membership of the European Single Market and Customs Union.

I am concerned a no-deal may result in restrictions and costs when bringing talent and productions from the EU, as well as our ability to retaining and attract talent to Scotland. I made these points directly to the UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture Media and Sport when I had a meeting with him on 23 August.

I travelled to Japan and the Republic of Korea from 2 to 6 July, where I undertook a programme of activity to strengthen links in business, trade, tourism, education and culture.

The visit focused on sharing best practice across the public and private sector, promoting Scotland as an innovative and outward looking country. During the visit, I undertook over 30 engagements, which included 10 meetings with companies, 4 bi-lateral Ministerial meetings, keynote speeches on female leadership and Scotland On The World Stage, as well as addresses delivered at tourism and cultural networking receptions which promoted Scotland as a leading country to visit, live, work, study and invest in.

The relationships between Scotland, Japan and the Republic of Korea are important ones, reflected by the strong economic, cultural and personal links of our citizens.

In Tokyo, I met the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Hideki Niwa. The meeting provided an opportunity to highlight current links between Scotland and Japan and discuss potential areas for future collaboration through cultural engagement, as part of the UK/Japan Season of Culture 2019-20 and ahead of the forthcoming Rugby World Cup in 2019 and Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Earlier in the week, I met with Hisashi Shimoyama, Artistic Director of Ricca Ricca, an annual international festival of performing arts for children, young people and families. This year’s country of ‘focus’ will be Scotland which resulted from a previous meeting I held with him in Japan in 2015. In partnership with Imaginate, 4 productions by leading artists and companies from Scotland have been invited to perform. I thanked Mr Shimoyama and other theatre representatives from Shizuoka, Tokyo and Nagano, and encouraged continued collaboration between Scotland and Japan.

I met the Minister of Justice Yoko Kamikawi and discussed the Women Political Leaders Summit in Tokyo next year and gender equality issues. I outlined the Scottish Government’s approach, driven by a simple underlying premise, that women’s rights are human rights. I indicated that Scotland would be willing to work and share its experience in this area with Japan going forward.

I met with the Japan-British Society, founded in 1908 to promote cordial relations between the peoples of the United Kingdom and Japan. They indicated that they plan to plant cherry blossom trees across the UK as a symbol of friendship, including at least three sites in Scotland.

I met regional city leaders from a number of Japanese prefectures and discussed how Scotland uses cultural diplomacy to promote itself. A presentation was also delivered by VisitScotland and Creative Scotland.

During a meeting with the Nippon Foundation, I thanked the Executive Director, Mitsuyuki Unno, for providing on-going support by sending students to the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and encouraging the expansion of the Summer School initiative. I also highlighted the Scottish Government’s on-going commitment to strengthening relations between Scotland and Japan through the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Scottish Enterprise and the Nippon Foundation in 2017, on Research and Development funding to target the development of subsea technologies. Just before the meeting, I met with some students selected to take part in the Nippon Foundation’s summer school programme in Offshore Engineering at Robert Gordon University. I spoke about the strong partnerships between companies and universities in Scotland and Japan, driving important innovations across a wide range of industries and highlighted that they were coming to Scotland during our Year of Young People.

I held meetings to further develop relationships with key inward investors for the life sciences (Sinfonia), subsea engineering (Kawaski Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Electric) and renewables (Chiyoda). Mitsubishi Electric have created circa 450 jobs in the last 4 years in Scotland, now employing over 1000 locally. I witnessed the signing of a letter of intent between Scotland’s Underwater Centre (Fort William) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries to test their AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) aimed at the oil and gas market. Chiyoda are building on their investment in Scottish based Xodus Group, by choosing Scotland to develop the world’s first Global Hydrogen supply chain project.

I attended a business panel discussion with senior representatives from the British Chambers of Commerce Japan, with around 80 guests across industries, investors, GlobalScots and several media outlets. I delivered a speech focussing on female leadership and how the Scottish Government is committed to creating a more inclusive form of growth that tackles inequalities while at the same time driving competitiveness.

I spoke at a Tourism Networking event, where there was a strong representation from trade representatives and members of the media and press. The focus was on promoting Scotland’s luxury market, unique culture and programme of festivals. There was a particular interest shown by the trade media on what’s new in the development of wellness tourism in Scotland, and a real eagerness to learn from Scottish tourism ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

I spoke at a reception hosted by SDI at the British Embassy in Tokyo, recognising Japan as an important partner for mutual economic growth and showcased Scotland’s premium food and drink products on the world stage as well as the new Scotland Is Now campaign. Guests included representatives from current and potential investors in Scotland, GlobalScots, retailers of Scottish produce and a range of other businesses and sectors including culture, tourism and education.

In Yokohama, I met with the Mayor of Yokohama City, Ms Fumiko Hayashi. The meeting’s purpose was to explore ways to encourage the development of connections between sectors in Scotland and Yokohama following an initial meeting we had in 2017. Key areas for collaboration include exchanges between the Scotland rugby team and the community and young people of Yokohama during the 2019 Rugby World Cup; encouraging university partnerships, including student and academic exchanges; and recognising important exchanges which have taken place between Yokohama and the Scottish marine and sub-sea industry with the support of Scottish Development International. Ms Hayashi and I then signed a Joint Declaration on collaboration in these sectors between Scotland and Yokohama during 2019-20, utilising the unique opportunities provided by the Rugby World Cup, Olympics and Paralympics.

I visited the campus of Yokohama City University. The university has been progressively developing relationships with Scottish universities, including the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee and Edinburgh Napier, as part of its internationalisation programme. I met with the University President, Mr Shigeta Yukichi, where we discussed the development of stronger links between Scottish Universities and Yokohama City University. I then addressed an audience of students. I began by talking about the contribution of Scots to the development of Yokohama and touched upon broader Scottish links with Japan on culture, trade and education, as well as focussing on the subject of Europe and the Scottish Government’s stance in light of the 2016 EU Referendum and Brexit process as well as Scotland’s place in the world.

I also spoke at a business seminar event organised by SDI which focussed on the subsea sector with key stakeholders from the Japanese marine and renewables business community. SDI has been working with marine industry partners in Yokohama city who are interested in the subsea sector to drive collaboration and investment in Scotland’s subsea industry. I spoke about Scotland’s subsea capabilities and Research and Development assets, which are world recognised and a draw for investors and oil and gas companies looking to diversify into sustainable methods. I also encouraged Japanese companies to look to Scotland’s expertise in the subsea sector, as they look to enter the global oil and gas market and seek future mineral extraction opportunities.

I also spent a day in the Republic of Korea. I was welcomed by the British Ambassador, Simon Smith, at the British Embassy and we discussed how to promote further cooperation and support for Scotland’s activities in the Republic of Korea, as well as the Scottish Government’s positive stance on encouraging inward investment to Scotland. Following this meeting, I joined him at a Tourism Networking Event, which provided the opportunity for travel, trade and airline stakeholders to learn more about what’s on offer to Koreans travelling to Scotland. My speech promoted Scotland as a leading country to visit, live, work, study and invest in, as well as offering some of the best cultural experiences anywhere in the world. I built on this by having a bilateral meeting with the Minister for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Do Jong Hwan. We discussed how both nations can strengthen relations with future collaboration through cultural engagement, including during the 4 th Edinburgh International Culture Summit in August 2018.

I also met the Vice Minister for Land and Infrastructure, Son Byeong-Suk, and the Deputy Minister for Central Land Tribunal, Kwon Yongbok. We discussed how to promote cooperation on rural issues, and I underlined the Scottish Government’s commitment to support Korean organisers as they prepare to host the 12 th OECD Rural Development Conference in 2019.

I held meetings with a number of current investors and key partners for Scotland including CS Wind and Hyundai.

The visit was opportune given international interest around Brexit and presented a vitally important opportunity for me to reassure businesses and politicians from Japan and the Republic of Korea that Scotland is an outward looking, welcoming country and remains open for business.