Chamber and committees

Mr Bibby has a supplementary.

The cabinet secretary has been talking recently about GlobalScots and the importance of networks. There is no performance indicator for international networks. Can you give us a feeling of where we stand in that area? Could a measurement as to the effect of those networks be applied?

I invite questions from Mr Ruskell, who is joining us remotely. [Interruption.] I hope that he is about to join us.

Does anyone else want to talk about the challenges?

Thank you very much. I now open up the meeting to questions from colleagues, and I invite Mr Bibby to go first.

Good morning, and a warm welcome to the 20th meeting in 2023 of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee.

We have received apologies from Maurice Golden MSP. Our colleague Mark Ruskell joins us remotely.

Our first agenda item is a decision on taking business in private. Are members content to take agenda item 3 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

We have talked about many of the successes—the whisky industry was mentioned earlier—but do small and medium-sized enterprises have a different challenge from the more established businesses?

Mr Macpherson wants to ask a supplementary.

When we did our investigation into the international offices, all the evidence that we took was positive. There was good work and complementary work—everything that you have just spoken about was there. The British Council, for instance, said that it would welcome more offices and efforts opening up. However, domestically—Seona Shand touched on this—the discourse is that we hear terms such as “pretend embassies” and “waste of money”. Does the intergovernmental strain at the moment break through into the perception internationally? In relation to the rest of the UK, is Scotland the only country that is experiencing such tension, or is that shared by the Welsh Government and in Northern Ireland?

Agenda item 2 is an evidence session as part of the committee’s continuing inquiry into the Scottish Government’s national outcomes and indicators relating to international policy.

We are delighted to be joined this morning by Seona Shand, international trade director, Scottish Chambers of Commerce; Vicki Miller, director of marketing and digital, VisitScotland; Gareth Williams, head of policy, Scottish Council for Development and Industry; and Anthony Salamone, managing director, European Merchants. A warm welcome to you all.

I will open with an introductory question, which I have based on Ms Shand’s written evidence to the committee; thank you to those who made written submissions. The SCC’s submission said:

“Scotland punches above its weight on the global stage ... However, as our competitors step up their game and the uncertain world of migration, business and investment and travel evolves, we need to shift up a gear.”

I am interested in the gear shift, and in finding out whether everyone shares the opinion that those are the main challenges in the work that the Scottish Government is doing.