Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, who the members of the reconvened Board of Trade are; and what assessment he has made of the most significant achievements of that Board for the Scottish economy have been since June 2017.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP Secretary of State for International Trade, in his role as President of the Board of Trade, Chairs the Board of Trade meetings. The advisers can be found online: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/board-of-trade.
The Board meets four times a year, with meetings rotated around the UK. Doing so guarantees all parts of the Union have a chance to raise the issues most important to them. The Board has met five times since it was convened in October 2017.
The third meeting took place at Stirling Castle on 17 May 2018. The networking reception involved local Scottish businesses and government representatives, and aimed to support and celebrate trade and investment with Scotland. During the reception the Secretary of State for International Trade launched the High Potential Opportunities programme (part of the FDI Strategy) and presented Board of Trade Awards to Aggreko, Alexander Dennis Limited, Bowalds Energy Ltd, Speyside Distillers Company Limited, Enerquip Limited and McGavigan Ltd. The Board of Trade Awards celebrate businesses which show exceptional innovation, deliver prosperity to their local communities, and champion free trade.
The National Trade Academy Programme also ran a Global Trade and Investment Seminar on 17 May 2018 in Stirling, which brought together expert speakers from academia, business and government to discuss the importance of trade and internationalization for business. Over 50 students from three local academic institutions had the opportunity to gain insight into the importance of international trade and investment in national economic
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many Scottish based small and medium sized enterprises were invited to take part in the Prime Minister's trade visit to China in January 2018.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department of International Trade worked alongside colleagues from across the UK and its devolved administrations to identify companies to join the Prime Minister’s business delegation. This process included wide consultation with our counterpart, Scottish Development International.
Each of the nine English regions and the three devolved administrations were represented in the 50-strong delegation, including two Scottish based small and medium-sized enterprises – the Scotch Whisky Association and NPL Group. One large Scottish company, Standard Life Aberdeen, was also represented on the delegation.
In total, three small and medium-sized companies and two large Scottish companies were invited to participate in the visit.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many Scottish based small and medium sized enterprises were invited to take part in the Prime Minister's trade visit to China in January 2018.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department of International Trade worked alongside colleagues from across the UK and its devolved administrations to identify companies to join the Prime Minister’s business delegation. This process included wide consultation with our counterpart, Scottish Development International.
Each of the nine English regions and the three devolved administrations were represented in the 50-strong delegation, including two Scottish based small and medium-sized enterprises – the Scotch Whisky Association and NPL Group. One large Scottish company, Standard Life Aberdeen, was also represented on the delegation.
In total, three small and medium-sized companies and two large Scottish companies were invited to participate in the visit.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the value was of trade deals agreed by Scottish-based businesses which took part in the January 2018 trade visit to China by the Prime Minister.
Answered by Graham Stuart
During the Prime Minister’s visit to China over £9 billion in deals were announced including three Scottish-Chinese commercial agreements:
Details of these deals are commercially confidential.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the value was of trade deals agreed by Scottish-based businesses which took part in the January 2018 trade visit to China by the Prime Minister.
Answered by Graham Stuart
During the Prime Minister’s visit to China over £9 billion in deals were announced including three Scottish-Chinese commercial agreements:
Details of these deals are commercially confidential.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many Scottish companies which had not previously taken part in a trade mission were invited on the last trade visit to China in 2017.
Answered by Graham Stuart
All UK companies, including those located or operating in Scotland, are able to access the Department for International Trade's (DIT) national events and missions programme. This is viewable on great.gov.uk which is promoted nationally.
The most recent trade mission to China in 2017 was for the Airports sector and ran from 27th _ 30th November. One Scottish company took part in this trade mission. They have received ongoing support from DIT.