New Scotland & Japan partnership to grow opportunities in the subsea sector

Scotland and Japan unveiled a new strategic agreement at Offshore Europe today (Tuesday 5^th September) aimed at helping both countries capitalise on opportunities in the growing subsea technologies sector.

Scottish Enterprise and The Nippon Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU),  which will see both organisations work together to invest in research and development projects around subsea technology challenges. Economy Secretary Keith Brown and Japanese Ambassador Koji Tsuruoka were also at the meeting.

The projects will address challenges identified by Japanese industry in consultation with Scotland, who will then collaborate with Scottish companies – who will use their knowledge and expertise of the marine environment to develop solutions.

Scottish Enterprise director of energy Maggie McGinlay, signed the MOU on behalf of Scottish Enterprise.  She said:

“We’ve built up our expertise in subsea engineering in the harsh environment of the North Sea, and many of the technologies developed here in Scotland have revolutionised the worldwide oil and gas industry. As a result, Scotland already accounts for 14 per cent if the global subsea market, with approximately 370 companies generating an estimated annual turnover of £7.5 billion.

“This experience and reputation means we are ideally positioned to work with The Nippon Foundation and to support it’s ambitions for the sector in Japan. We’re particularly delighted to be able to demonstrate this collaboration here at Offshore Europe and look forward to highlighting this opportunity to companies across the subsea sector this week.”

Chairman of The Nippon Foundation Yohei Sasakawa said:

“Offshore development is a huge frontier and this is where Scottish Enterprise and The Nippon Foundation will pioneer together. The two parties will provide equal funding of a total of 20 million US dollars to support joint projects that push boundaries and challenge conventions.

“The programme will serve to incubate new seeds of ocean innovation. World-leading experts from both countries will be teaming up to help these seeds bud and bloom into innovative offshore technology.”

Economy Secretary Keith Brown said:

“Today’s agreement provides an opportunity for Scotland and Japan to work in partnership to realise our ambitions in subsea technology.  Scotland already has a strong and innovative supply chain with expertise in subsea engineering, and is a world renowned hub, with potential for strong growth in international markets.

“By working together, we expect both countries to maximise their subsea technologies at a greater rate, and to increase our respective shares of the sector accordingly – which is worth some £50 billion annually. 

“The MOU should also consolidate the strong economic and diplomatic bonds which exist between our two nations.”

Scotland and Japan have a long history of working together, and Scottish Development International – the international arm of Scotland’s enterprise agencies – has engaged closely with The Nippon Foundation in the development of the MOU. A visit to Japan earlier this year by Cabinet Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, also played a key role in taking this latest development forward, which has also seen the launch of a new Nippon Foundation capacity building programme for the subsea industry at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

Following the signing of the agreement, a number of Scottish companies will attend a seminar at Offshore Europe, on the opportunities of the subsea technologies sector in Japan. At the seminar -  which is being held by the Embassy of Japan in the UK, with support from The Nippon Foundation, JETRO London, and Scottish Enterprise – representatives from both countries will provide information and share their experiences in offshore development.

The extensive collaboration work with Japan will make a strong contribution to the delivery of the Subsea Engineering Action Plan, launched by Scottish Enterprise earlier this year, with the aim capturing an even bigger slice of the £50billion global subsea market by Scottish companies.

ENDS

You can see the Subsea Action Plan at: http://ow.ly/wKA330eMYqC

For more information on the Nippon Foundation visit: www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/ / http://project-kaiyoukaihatsu.jp/