The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
SDI says overseas promotion has created 7,800 jobs
Scottish Development International (SDI) said yesterday its promotion of Scotland as a place to do business secured 7,839 jobs during 2016/17, an increase of 10% on the previous year.
It follows the publication last month of the 2017 EY Scotland Attractiveness survey, which ranked Scotland as the most attractive UK location for foreign direct investment outside London.
SDI, the international arm of economic development quango Scottish Enterprise, said the US was the biggest source of inward investment during 2016/17, followed by England and Norway.
In terms of sectors, technology and advanced engineering, oil and gas, and financial and business services were the biggest contributors.
Overseas companies which invested in Scotland during 2016/17 included Singapore-based Clinnovate, Chinese mobile games giant Skymoons, US marketing and sales specialist Televerde, US diabetes management firm Dexcom and Chinese power company Red Rock.
The inward investment report coincided with news that Australian financial services company Computershare has secured £2million of funding from SE to create 300 jobs at a new technology centre of excellence in Edinburgh.
SDI operations director Neil Francis said: “Our strong inward investment results indicate that Scotland’s capabilities in growth sectors such as financial and business services, technology and oil and gas are world-leading and that these sectors remain extremely attractive to international audiences.
“I’m particularly pleased to see investment successes from China and India, as this reflects our increased focus on developing relationships in these markets and our investment in a high-growth market team based here in Scotland.
“We have a clear focus on winning the right kind of investment for Scotland.”