Strengthening Middle East trade relationships

Scottish Enterprise chief executive Lena Wilson accompanied the Fist Minister Alex Salmond on a five-day trade and investment visit to the Middle East to strengthen relationships and proactively create more opportunities for Scottish companies to do business with the region.

During the visit she met with a number of senior government and investment officials and business leaders to promote Scotland and explore future collaborations, with a focus on education, renewables, oil and gas and low carbon. She also attended the opening of Heriot Watt University's new campus in Dubai and the opening of the new office of Scottish law firm McGrigors in Doha.

Lena Wilson, said: "Opening up new opportunities with other nations is vital to secure Scotland's long-term economic growth and now more than ever we must sharpen our focus on areas where there is considerable potential for Scotland.

"The UAE offers real possibilities for Scottish companies in a variety of key industries including education, low carbon and renewables. Our five day visit was all about strengthening trade relations to proactively make it easier for Scottish companies to trade there. Many Scottish businesses are already successfully active in the region and by further nurturing our relations with the UAE we can not only enhance our own ways of working but can ultimately generate increased growth for the Scottish economy.

"Our message is clear - Scotland is very much open for business and is ready to compete on a global stage. We look forward to working with the UAE on future projects."

For more details about the visit, please see:

New £35m Heriot-Watt campus in Dubai
Strengthening links with UAE
Engineering firm plans Dubai HQ
Scottish low carbon technology
Partnership talks in Qatar and UAE
Scots law firm opens new Qatar HQ