LEADING figures from Scotland's business sector will form a new taskforce to help boost Scotland's economy.
The new Scottish business taskforce will be made up of leading business and economy experts, said Scottish Secretary David Mundell.
Former UK Government minister Andrew Dunlop has been commissioned to chair the group, whose members are yet to be announced.
Mr Mundell said they will help advise the UK Government on economic and industrial policy.
He said: "The UK Government’s new Scottish business taskforce will provide expert advice and guidance on how best to strengthen Scotland’s economy.
"We know that Scotland’s economic performance lags behind the rest of UK, and we need to close that gap.
"As we develop our ambitious industrial strategy and negotiate new trade deals with Europe and around the world, this expert panel will provide insight from a range of Scottish business sectors.”
The Scottish Secretary made the announcement ahead of a trip to Paraguay and Argentina to promote Scottish business interests.
He added: "As we are prepare to leave the EU, we want to build and strengthen our trade relationships with friends and partners old and new, and I am certain Scottish companies will be at the forefront of this.
"Scotland’s skills, products and services are highly regarded globally, and we can build on that as we strike ambitious new trade deals around the world.
"I am travelling to South America this week to bang the drum for Scottish businesses, taking the message to these markets that Scotland’s companies have the skills, products and expertise they need."
Scottish exports to Argentina are estimated to be worth around £50 million a year, including whisky exports worth £12 million.
Exports of whisky to Paraguay are worth more than £14 million every year.
Mr Mundell will meet senior political and business figures in both Paraguay and Argentina, and will make a speech about the place of the UK in a post-Brexit world.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel