Julia Longbottom at Port of Nigg
Trade and investment ties with the Far East are growing stronger, writes TERRY MURDEN
They may clash on many things, but ministers in Holyrood and Westminster are at least agreed on one thing: the need to boost overseas trade and encourage investment. And aside from the flood of money promised from the US, the Far East is proving a popular hunting ground.
The Chinese, keen to build wind turbines in Scotland, are making some negative headlines because of suspicions around political influence, but the country’s vast resources make its pledges to invest almost irresistible, while others in the Asia-Pacific zone are increasingly crucial partners in Scotland’s quest for growth.
A Labour government seemingly in electoral freefall over a litany of broken promises is at least maintaining its determination to drive foreign investment into the UK. Regular summits and updates on money flowing into infrastructure and modern industry appear to be shielded from the crossfire in other policy areas.
Whether Labour can leverage any benefit from these investments will be for the others to judge, but the delegations of overseas representatives keen to see what Britain has to offer provides some evidence that ministers are serious about renewing and rebuilding the economy.
Just days before he left office, former Foreign Secretary David Lammy despatched Nik Mehta, the UK ambassador to Singapore, to Scotland with a mission that included potential investment in the site of the now closed Grangemouth oil refinery.
Mr Lammy’s successor Yvette Cooper is now responsible for the “Domestic Roadshow” in which Ambassadors and High Commissioners are meeting UK businesses. The Ambassador to Japan, Julia Longbottom, has been on a four-day tour of Scotland to help build on an already thriving trading relationship which is worth over £30 billion to the UK and supports thousands of jobs across Scotland.
With attention increasingly focused on the switch from oil & gas to renewables, Ambassador Longbottom kicked off her tour at the Port of Nigg, on the Cromarty Firth, one of Scotland’s two Green Freeports. She also visited Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone.
The ambassador met representatives of Japanese company Sumitomo Electric, whose £350 million subsea cable factory will create 150 jobs and strengthen the UK’s renewable energy supply chain, as well as Mitsui, the Tokyo-based site owner and recent investor.
In Aberdeen she was briefed on Scotland’s offshore wind and hydrogen expertise and discussed new Japanese investment opportunities in Scottish renewables infrastructure.
Keen not to be overshadowed by the UK Government’s programme, the Scottish government has been building its own relationship with Japan, which is now the UK’s 14th largest trading partner.
A year ago, Scottish business minister Richard Lochhead hired former Sony executive Stephen Baker a trade envoy to Japan to identify opportunities in the country’s thriving energy transition, pharmaceuticals, med-tech and food sectors. The unpaid role was for an initial two-year term.
Scottish Energy Secretary Gillian Martin last month led a delegation from Scotland’s offshore wind sector and Scottish Enterprise, to a series of events in Japan. These included the annual Wind Expo 2025 and the UK pavilion on the final Scotland day at Expo 2025 in Osaka. Ms Martin’s engagements included a visit to Sumitomo Electric’s factory.
The mission aimed to build partnerships with Japanese companies and local governments as well as explore collaboration and joint research. The Scottish government’s Green Industrial Strategy and includes opportunities to export Scotland’s expertise.
Trade between the two countries extends to a range of sectors, including food & drink and gaming. In 2024 total goods exports from Scotland to Japan were worth £484 million. Scotland’s top export to Japan was beverages, including whisky, with sales worth £158 million – 32.5% of all goods exported.
Ambassador Longbottom took in visits to Arbikie Distillery near Dundee and the city’s 4J Studios to unlock opportunities for Scottish video game developers in Japan’s £15 billion gaming market. She also met those overseeing the £750 million national supercomputer site at University of Edinburgh and senior figures at the National Robotarium – a ground-breaking robotics and AI research hub at Heriot-Watt University.
Japan has also been a big investor into the Scottish economy. As of last year there were 120 Japan-owned businesses in Scotland, operating 265 local business units, and employing 8,980 workers.
Both the UK and Scottish governments hope that the presence of ambassadors and envoys supplements the trade missions and negotiations on investment and trade deals that are increasingly important in the aftermath of Britain’s exit from the EU and the need to renew formal ties with other nations. These include India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, with which the UK has just signed a trade deal that will have enormous implications for Scottish firms.
UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Seema Malhotra, said: “Our Ambassadors and High Commissioners are playing a crucial role in ensuring that every part of the UK benefits from global opportunities – bringing international investment into our towns and cities and helping local economies thrive.”
Ambassador Longbottom added: “The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy and Trade Strategy are making Britain the best country to do business with – and that is the message I’m giving, loud and clear, to businesses in Japan.
“Japanese companies are choosing to invest and create jobs in the UK because of our skilled workforce, our world-class innovation, and our deep, trusted partnership with Japan. Scotland has all of these, and it’s my job to put Scotland on the map in Japan.”
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