Margaret Curran – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support the First Minister of Scotland has received from UK Trade & Investment ahead of his upcoming visit to the US.

Michael Fallon

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in New York and San Francisco have worked closely with the First Minister’s team in planning arrangements for his visit.

The Consul-General in New York hosted a lunch at his residence on 7 April 2014 in association with Scottish Development International (SDI) and Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) for the First Minister and 17 Scottish companies in the accompanying trade mission, to which key business figures in the US were invited.

On 8 April 2014 SDI and mission delegates attended a UKTI briefing discussion on marketing in the US. Mission companies will have access to meeting rooms for one-to-one meetings throughout the week, as well as UKTI staff who will be available to discuss business opportunities in the US market. UKTI staff are also supporting a number of events during the week, including the US office launch on 5 April 2014, of Scottish based Smarter Grid Solutions and other events where mission delegates will be present.

For the visit of the Scottish Government’s External Affairs and International Development Minister, Huzma Yousaf, UKTI contributed to the guest list for Mr Yousaf’s Scotland Week reception in San Francisco. UKTI also contributed to energy sector invitees for the World Trade Centre-Northern California breakfast event for the Minister, as requested by the World Trade Centre.