 The next item of business is to debate motion 1746 in the aim of Ivan McKee on a trading nation. Can I invite those members who wish to speak in the debate to press the request to speak buttons now, and can I call on Ivan McKee to speak to and move the motion, minister, please? Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm saying, officer, that this Government recognises the critical importance of internationalisation to our economic strategy to drive sustainable economic growth, inclusive growth, as defined through our economic action plan. We understand the importance of exports to that internationalisation strategy. We also understand that increasing exports drives further innovation in our economy, drives up productivity and drives up the tax revenues that we need as a society to invest in our public services. It creates wider internationalisation, the exchange of ideas in people and it cements Scotland's place in the world as a good global citizen promoting sustainable development. For all those reasons, the export performance of Scotland's economy is of critical importance. If we look back over the recent period, over the last 10 years, Scotland's exports have grown an annualised rate of 4.7 per cent. We recognise that performance. It's better than the UK's performance over that period at 4.3 per cent, but we also recognise substantially that Scotland can do better. If we look back over the 20-year period, we recognise that Scotland's exports as a percentage of GDP—international recognised measure—has been flat at around 20 per cent. A trading nation, the plan that we published on 1 May this year, addresses those issues and looks at what Scotland, as an economy, can do to increase the proportion of our exports as a percentage of GDP. It drills down to understand what the hard choices we have to make. It is important to recognise that it is businesses that export, but the Government's role in that process is to help those businesses to realise their full international potential. One of the main purposes of a trading nation, our plan to grow Scotland's exports, is to help us to decide where to focus Government support in that process. I look forward to the start of the debate. I hope that it is consensual. I hope that members are inputting their suggestions on what we can further do to grow Scotland's exports, because it is important to recognise that a trading nation reflects where we are just now, and it will continue to develop and grow. We will add more actions and directions to that as more information becomes available. I encourage members to engage with businesses in their constituencies to ensure that they are aware of what a trading nation outlines. The online tools are available there to help them. The support is available from Scottish Enterprise, SDI and others in my availability to come and visit businesses that are keen to export more to help them along that journey as best I can. I will take the member's intervention. I thank the member for taking the intervention. I wonder if he would agree with me that, as well as the need to grow our export market, there is also a home public procurement market that currently we have a poor record of supporting like food in IT and construction. If we properly manage that, it would be also crucial in helping to grow the Scottish economy. I think that Brian Whill is talking about procurement, public procurement. Right. Absolutely, that is an issue. It is not an issue for today's debate. Thank you for raising it, but of course it is an issue that we consider today's debates focused on what we do to grow Scotland's exports from our businesses. In terms of the work that has taken place in the export plan, it has been a hugely analytical piece of work. It looked into a significant number of datasets over a period of time. It looked at international comparisons to understand what was happening elsewhere. As I said, many of those information is now available on a sector and market basis online for businesses to take advantage of. It was also characterised by a significant amount of co-production engagement that took place with more than 50 business and sectoral organisations to inform the advice and recommendations that form part of the plan. I would like to take the opportunity to thank those business organisations that took part in that process and the team that worked hard over the past seven or eight months to put a trading nation together. The output of that is a set of actions and directions that help us to understand what Government and our agencies and others need to do to boost Scotland's export performance to become best-in-class globally. As I mentioned, the trading nation looked at a number of strategic choices and did not duck the analysis on those in coming to some hard conclusions. Those choices really formed across four different aspects. First of all, we are looking at the countries that we should export to, understanding the growth trajectory within those countries and looking at a total of 15 indicators to analyse and understand not only what the markets of today look like but also what the emerging markets of tomorrow look like. That led us to a strategy that focuses on a top tier of 15 countries in which we will significantly focus our activity and increase our presence. There is also another list of 11 countries for a tomorrow strategy in which we will have a presence and understanding and monitor what is happening there as those economies develop. Secondly, we look at sectors to understand how we build on Scotland's great strengths, be it our food and drink sector, our energy and renewable sector, with the transition to low-carbon, our fintech in financial services sector, our life sciences, our quantum mechanics, our space sector and many other sectors where Scotland has globally recognised world strength. The analysis looked at what of those sectors we were truly world-class, what markets and what countries those sectors should focus on to understand how to realise the best opportunities available and how Scotland compares against other nations' comparable size and economies to us in terms of where we do better than them and where we do it not as well in our opportunities for us to improve. Thirdly, a trading nation looked at the profile of businesses in Scotland to understand through a smart segmentation strategy how we should target our efforts on which sectors of our business community and identified that largely the focus should be on medium-sized and smaller Scottish businesses that are exporting and have the capacity to do more. Also, Scottish businesses with that capacity that are not yet exporting and the focus that we will drive is on those sectors of our business community to help them to realise their full potential. It is worth noting that, within that community, fully 74 per cent of the businesses within those sectors that we are targeting support to are SMEs, unless half of them are internationally owned. The fourth strategic choice that we looked at was about how to join the dots in the market, how to make sure that Scotland's reputation works very wide with the Aspera and the other networks that we enjoy and the goodwill that is felt towards Scotland, and how we can engage those processes, organisations and others to help to pull together a strategy in each market that helps Scottish businesses. When the land and country understand the market situation, they understand access to customers and to make the most of the opportunities that exist for them. I will take the member's intervention. The minister talks about increasing exports. What advice would the minister give to Scottish companies looking to increase their exports? What advice would they give them about what future currency to plan for, given his party's uncertainty over what the future currency of Scotland might be? Before you answer, I say that I have time in hand for interventions, so do not fret. If you take interventions, you will make up your time. I thank the member for his answer. In terms of individual businesses exporting, they deal with the currencies that the customers' suppliers work with. Any business that exports significantly, as the member should know, could be dealing with four, five or six different currencies at any point in time, as I have done in my past business career. In terms of what the question he was trying to ask me was round about Scotland's position in terms of our currency going forward, and he should well know if he has been paying attention to Scotland's currency. The day before independence and the day after independence will be the pound. Moving on, in terms of where we go with joining up the dots in market, Scotland enjoys significant assets there, and we will be working very hard through a whole series of actions to make sure that our global Scotland network, our trade envoys, the wider diaspora, our universities, our cities with our twin arrangements are joined up to ensure that Scottish businesses benefit from those assets in the country. More than 100 actions have been identified within a trading nation that we will be working through over the coming months to deliver upon, and those actions build up through a series of mechanisms to deliver the overarching targets that we have to grow Scotland's exports as a percentage of GDP. Those actions include the FM export challenge, which joins businesses on a peer-to-peer relationship to drive mentor relationships, taking businesses that have significant export experience and marying them up with businesses that are starting out on that journey to support them through that process. The international trade partnership, which we are working with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, allows businesses that are new to exporting to take part in trade missions, and the Government is working to support the chambers to facilitate those to target markets, as I identified previously. It is working to expand our global Scotland network by a factor of more than three over the coming years and then further beyond that to ensure that we get the best from all the assets that we have. Scotland is working abroad with significant experience to engage with it. I re-energise the global Scotland network and put in place more trade envoys who have proved to be an invaluable resource in the countries that are currently present supporting trade by Scottish businesses that want to export internationally. I am grateful that the minister set out those principles by saying that they are geared towards his target of increasing exports as a percentage of GDP. He knows very well that I am very sceptical that there is such a thing as sustainable economic growth, but it is Government rhetoric that that is what they are going for. Why is the target not based on sustainability, rather than on the narrow, myopic metric of GDP only? If Patrick Harvie had read the report or listened to what I said in my opening statement, I talked about driving innovation, driving productivity, driving wider internationalisation, exchange of ideas in people in cementing Scotland's place in the world as a good global citizen and promoting sustainable development. All those were mentioned in my opening remarks of the member had been listening. We have put a hard measure in place because that is an internationally recognised measure, but as we develop the process, I am quite happy if he has got a measure around about sustainable development. It is a hard measure that we can put in place alongside those. I am quite happy to consider those, but if all he has got is a lot of words because he does not like the concept of GDP, he needs to go and have a wee think about it, because the reality is that the targets that are in here are going to deliver an extra £500 million to the Scottish Government in terms of hard tax take that we can then use to invest in public services. It creates higher-value jobs and more jobs in the Scottish economy. If those are things that Patrick Harvie feels he wants to laugh about, he is welcome to it, but we have a serious job to do here to grow Scotland's economy through increasing our exports. As I move on finally to finish on this, as I mentioned, the target to increase from 20 to 25 per cent is achievable over the coming 10-year period. As I mentioned, that will increase the tax revenue to the Scottish Government by half a billion pounds, money that we can then spend on public services in Scotland. To close, the key message here is that Scotland is open for business. We are a trading nation. We are out there looking international and nation. We want to further increase our internationalisation despite the efforts of the UK Government and Brexit. We have ambition to grow Scotland's economy, to grow our exports and to support Scotland's businesses on that journey. Please move the motion, minister. Please move your motion. I move the motion in my name. Let me start by saying that the Scottish Conservatives will support all proposals to increase Scottish exports, because we are trailing behind the rest of the UK and competitive countries in terms of our performance. International exports represent only 20 per cent of our GDP, compared with 30 per cent for the UK economy and higher for competitive countries. Our export performance in the past decade has also failed to meet all the targets set out by the Scottish Government by a scale of £22 billion. If Scottish exports were to reach the levels of the rest of the UK, that would boost our economy by £16 billion a year. Those figures show that, after 12 years of Scottish National Party Government, Scotland has not realised its potential to become a first-tier trading nation. To realise that potential, we need a new approach towards increasing exports. There are many aspects of the trading nation strategy that have merit, and which, if implemented properly, could have a positive impact on the economy. We also recognise the important role and work that the CBI has played in helping to formulate the trading nation strategy, in particular its recommendations to simplify the export landscape, focus on existing exporters with high potential to grow their international trade and the commitment to increase digital resource. However, whatever merits the trading nation strategy might have, the fundamental flaw in the approach that is taken by the S&P to international trade is on the question of currency. At the same time, in fact, the very same week, as announcing a new policy to increase Scotland's trade, the S&P also announced plans to introduce a new currency for Scotland. Mr McKee, your answer that we will know the day after independence. I want to second your conference passed a motion, the S&P conference passed a motion that they wanted to introduce a new currency as soon as practicable. I ask the minister when he asks the question how does this fundamental uncertainty of the future currency of trade for Scotland help business plan for the future? If Dean Lockhart understood what was in the growth commission and what was passed at conference, it clearly was based on the six tests. One of those tests, if he will be aware of, is ensuring that trade cycles are aligned and that allows us to move forward to a different currency solution. The whole point of the currency solution is what suits us at this particular point in time. If he reads what the six tests say, he talks very clearly about trade cycles being an alignment. If Scotland further internationalises in a position to do that, it makes sense. That is when the currency option would be considered. Having the S&P decide when Scotland gets a new currency will not provide comfort to business minister. Unlike some of your other colleagues, or what your other colleagues have said about the currency, their currency is agnostic. One of the S&P's leading MEPs said that he did not really care what the currency was in the future and that he was agnostic. Whatever that ridiculous phrase means, the fundamental point is that business needs certainty. The questions are, will the new currency be the Euro, which was the previous S&P position? No, you have changed your position on that. Will it be the pound? Perhaps, but we do not know how long for. Instead, the S&P has announced plans to create a new currency, a currency that is untested, the value of which is uncertain and with an exchange rate unknown to our international trading partners. How can business in Scotland plan to increase trading relationships across the world, to build a long-term global customer network and to plan their currency hedging arrangements? He said earlier that businesses absolutely have to deal with different currencies, but if your home currency is a currency that you do not know what it is going to be, the value of which is uncertain, how can you enter into those hedging arrangements in the future? It is creating a level of uncertainty that is damaging Scotland's business domestically and internationally. I am happy to give way to the minister if he wants to explain how this fundamental uncertainty over currency is helping business. Frankly, if that is all that they have got to say on this debate, it is a serious piece of work that tries to understand how we are going to grow Scotland's exports. If that is all they can talk about, it shows how disconnected they are from the reality of what businesses experience in the reality of what business organisations have told us. Nobody has raised that current situation when they talk about it as a practicality of how they get orders, how they ship products and how the Scottish Government agencies support them in the market. For somebody in the Conservative Party to stand up here and talk about uncertainty in the light of what their party is doing to Scotland at the moment, it is frankly ridiculous. The minister says that no one is talking about independence. Was he in the chamber yesterday for Mike Russell's speech introducing legislation for a referendum? We have many policies that I will come on to, but what we are saying is that the SNP again prioritising its political agenda over the economic interests of Scotland. Instead of creating this uncertainty, that should be the following key priorities for any Scottish Government that should be the following. Increasing trade with our single biggest market, the rest of the UK, which accounts for 60 per cent of our trade. Scotland's trade with the rest of the UK has increased 71 per cent since 2002, compared with an increase of 29 per cent with the EU. However, the trading nation strategy largely ignores the opportunities available for Scotland to increase our trade with our largest single market. No, I need to make progress. The Scottish Government has set up over 30 trade offices across the world in many countries that account for less than 1 per cent of our trade. However, how many trade offices do we have in the rest of the UK? We have one trade office in the rest of the UK. Having one trade office to service a market, which accounts for over 60 per cent of our trade, makes no sense. That is our policy proposal. We have announced plans to set up a series of trade hubs in key regions across the rest of the UK to help Scottish businesses become embedded in the significant supply chains of the major economic regions of the UK. Not just have one trade hub in the rest of the UK, but have a series of trade hubs. Since 2002, our exports to non-EU markets have increased by 95 per cent and now represent 23 per cent of our trade, compared with 17 per cent of our trade with the EU. 90 per cent of the world's economic growth in the next 10 years will take place outside of Europe. Therefore, it is vital that we help Scottish businesses to gain more access to those fast-growing markets. However, there is really nothing in the trading nation strategy that explains how that will be done—just an aspiration to increase our trade. We need to see specific actions to support businesses to access those growing markets. Last year, I was on a trade mission to Hong Kong, China and Japan. What we are seeing in those countries is that they are moving their global trade on to e-commerce and other technology platforms. Advances in technology mean that the old models of export import are being replaced and Scotland needs to keep pace with those developments. Evidence given by Nora senior, the chair of the strategic board to the economy committee, highlighted that only 9 per cent of Scottish business embed digital in their operations compared to 43 per cent in competitor countries. We need to do more to encourage Scottish business to embed digital in their operations. I will, in a second, after I announced another one of our policies. Another one of our policy proposals is to create an institute of technology and e-commerce, a specialised agency that will help business across Scotland to take advantage of new global technology platforms and create an e-commerce platform to expand their business across the world. I see none of that referred to in the trading nation strategy. In fact, when I asked Kate Forbes whether the Scottish Government has a plan to introduce a specialised e-commerce and technology institute, the answer was no, that it was dealt with by the existing agencies. Clearly that is not the case if only 9 per cent of Scottish business embed digital in their operations. Again, perhaps the minister can explain why digital use by Scottish business is so low under the SNP. We cannot explain now because you are closing, but you are winding up, minister. You can deal with that and you are winding up. Do you want to just do your last few words? I thought that I had a bit of time in hand. Had an extra minute and I am giving you another 30 seconds. Thank you very much. I have said before that we will support any efforts to increase Scotland's trade. We will announce over the months ahead concrete policy proposals that will help Scottish business to expand into key international markets. We will work with the Government to support any increase in Scotland's international trade, but, as I said at the start, we will resist any and all efforts to remove the pound as Scotland's currency of trade. I move the amendment in my name. I welcome the publication of a trading nation and the additional investment that goes with it. It is a comprehensive document, tracking where we are and the opportunities that we must try and seize. It is to be a working document with regular refresh that will help us to track progress and allow changes to the strategy. It is also to build on the information that has been provided, although that is better than what has been provided in the past. I think that there are still gaps that need to be filled. Our amendment notes that the Scottish Government missed the previous target to increase exports by 50 per cent between 2010 and 2017, with growth of 35 per cent over that period, rather than the 50 per cent hoped for. However, exports as a percentage of GDP reduced over the same period, which is disappointing. Although the rest of the UK remains our biggest market, it has also reduced from 65 per cent to 60 per cent of our exports. Those are challenges that we must meet in order to grow the economy and create jobs. The jobs that we create must be secure, well-paid jobs. Too much of our economy is based on low-paid, insecure work that leaves people one paycheck away from a food bank. That is not something that is satisfactory and, indeed, it is something that we must all unite against. Our amendment speaks about small businesses. The report shows that, by far, the largest number of businesses in Scotland are those that have 0 to 49 employees, but they are less likely to export than larger organisations. It is well known that businesses of that size that look to export are much more likely to be bought over by larger organisations. Often, those organisations are multinational companies and they are seldom based here in Scotland. The report does not highlight that most of our exporters are not Scottish-owned, such as the Scottish whisky industry and the oil and gas industry. For an ownership means that we stand to lose some taxation. I just want to clarify some data points before we go completely off track. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, 74 per cent of the businesses that we will be supporting are in terms of the height. The biggest businesses are SMEs, which is where the vast majority of our support will go. 96 per cent of export businesses are SMEs, and only 4 per cent are large businesses. There are some useful data points, and more than 70 per cent of export businesses from Scotland are Scottish-owned. It is important to bear that in mind, but a question to the member is, does she think that firm direct investment is always a bad idea? Ms Grant? Of course, firm investment is not a bad idea, but we need to get the balance right and make sure that where we have expertise and knowledge in Scotland that we try and retain that here in Scotland. I would have thought that a nationalist would at least be willing to stand beside that proposal. We lose out on corporation tax if it is a multinational because they choose where they pay their corporation tax, and that is not often in the UK. We also lose intellectual property from those companies. How often have we seen something that has been designed and developed in Scotland and now being manufactured abroad, losing not only the revenue but the jobs as well? We also know that small businesses tend to be more resilient. They do not have shareholders to answer to, and they do not cut and run when times get tough. Therefore, they are much more likely to weather economic storms. Therefore, the Scottish Government needs to support them and to grow and prepare for exporting. That support must be direct in order to give them the confidence to export the knowledge of the systems in place but to help them to mitigate the risk. When on the cusp of exporting, many companies are concerned with the risk of expanding into unknown markets. If, at that time, they are approached with an attractive buy-out offer, the temptation is great to accept that. They need to see the rewards that can accrue, that are greater than the rewards of a quick sale. In addition, they need to be persuaded that the risks are manageable. One example of that is the number of independent distilleries that we are now seeing opened up in Scotland, most of producing gin for the home market while waiting for their whisky to mature. The Government needs a strategy to help them to export but to retain their ownership in Scotland. What is also missing is an industrial strategy. What are we looking to export? There are targets for food and drink exports, but the export strategy needs to sit on stronger foundations. I am going to make some progress. What part of our industry are we going to grow and where is the export potential? Therefore, an industrial strategy is essential for the export plan to work. Brexit, of course, builds on the uncertainty possibly delaying companies from pursuing foreign markets. As we approached the 29th of March, we heard of companies sending consignments abroad with no idea of the tariffs they might face when they arrived. That was a worrying time for those companies, but seeing that also put many others off taking that step. That is not only the case for Brexit. Talk of India Rf2 also has the same impact. Given that the UK is our biggest market, it puts Scottish business at risk. The Scottish Government talks endlessly about the problems of Brexit, but it failed to acknowledge that Scotland's exit would be much greater in magnitude. Not only is our trade four times greater, but our institutions are deeply embedded throughout the UK. Having borders and tariffs would damage trade with our biggest market and add to that the trading in a different currency. That would be a disaster and would exceed the damage of Brexit by some magnitude. If the Scottish Government really wants to build trade and with the Scottish economy, it must end all talk of independent India Rf2. I understand the need to play to the gallery, but when that is damaging our country, it must put our country before its party. Therefore, we will support the Conservative amendment. In closing, if I can quickly turn to the Green amendment, we are supportive of most of the sentiment that is in that amendment, and surely a Government facing a climate emergency would take many of those points as red. However, we do have concerns about how it is possible to have trade agreements that differ within the countries of the UK. Our current membership of the EU and associated trade agreements is through the UK. Therefore, we cannot support the Green amendment and I move the amendment in my name. At one level, it is important and welcome that we are having this debate. The one kind of growth that I am always enthusiastic about is the growth in confidence of this Parliament in continually trying to go beyond the narrow constraints of devolved powers and engage ourselves in the wider issues about our place in the world. Trade policy is reserved, but that does not mean that we should not be debating it here and debating not just how much trade we should be doing but what kind of trade and what impact it has. The minister, I hope, recognises the long-standing green critique of narrow metrics such as GDP growth. GDP, to put it simply, measures all of the good stuff that is happening in our economy and all of the bad stuff that is happening in our economy and just calls it stuff. Growth ideology says that we must always have more stuff. Programme for government after programme for government, medium-term financial strategy as we had today, budget after budget, strategy after strategy, all focus on this narrow metric. The minister was quite right and quite honest and revealing in his response to me. We focus on GDP because it is there, because it is a nice, simple, easy number to count. As a result of decade after decade of its primacy, its undue primacy in economic debate, it is being used in ways that it was never designed to be used in the first place. Today, I am pleased to say that a group called enough will be launching in Glasgow, recognising that degrowth is an important and urgent debate that the world needs to be having. We are living at a time when we know that we are killing the living world around us. We are creating an existential crisis not just in climate change but loss of biodiversity, pollution, extraction of finite resources. The everlasting growth in our economy is not only causing those problems, it is unsustainable. I regret that the Government's trade policy is based on a target framed purely in terms of percentage of GDP growth. The consequences of that, if we do not challenge it, will be manifest in things like the environmental costs that we see from the growth of salmon farming. We want to export ever more salmon to ever more countries and we know that the environmental and animal welfare costs of that are rising. I give way. I think that it is important to recognise that the target is export as a percentage of GDP, so it is a measure of how international the economy is, and that is what is driving the export plan. Does the member have another proposal on how we should measure it in numerical terms? In four minutes, I do not have time to cover the ways in which we need to— You will get your time made up, Mr Harvey, as I said. I do not have time to cover in detail the ways in which we need to move beyond narrow metrics. There are no simple narrow metrics that will be superior to the existing simple narrow metrics. That is the set of ideas that we need to move beyond. The harms of that chasing after growth will be found in the low wages in the hospitality sector, in tax avoidance by the successful, which will unfairly compete with those others who are looking to become more successful. We can have an alternative approach, one that is rooted in trade justice principles. Trade justice principles such as those that were created by the Trade Justice Scotland Coalition have already been endorsed by this Parliament, a motion passed by 80 votes to 30, with only the Conservatives opposing the idea that trade justice should be at the heart of our approach. In closing, one brief sentence or two on the trade bell, which is also referenced in my amendment, we need to challenge the notion that those right-wing free market ideologs in the UK Government, such as Liam Fox and Les Truss, who would quite happily rip up the social and environmental protections that have been hard-won over years and decades, need to be challenged in the threat that their free trade deals would have, even to devolve policy, such as environmental protection and the protection of our public services. The democratic scrutiny that is required in the trade bell is not there at present, and I hope that this Parliament will reject that when the time comes. Please move your amendment. I am moving the amendment in my name. Thank you. I am trying to be in a good mood this afternoon. We are going to support the motion and all the amendments. The trading nation report is a detailed plan. It draws on the expertise that has been developed in Scotland in terms of the overseas specialist, the trade advisers, the global Scots, drawing on the experience of the Scottish Chamber of Commerce, making sure that we are targeting the right sectors, not just the ones who have already got the expertise within their businesses but the ones that can make the biggest impact and the biggest contribution to our export capacity. In terms of the sleeping giants, we need to look at what the potential is to draw out the best from them. We also welcome the fact that there is a desire to improve measurement and monitoring to make sure that we are making the biggest impact that we possibly can. Of course, the food and drink sector that is important to my constituency is something that I particularly welcome from the report. I would like to see further growth for that sector as it tries to achieve the ambition of doubling the value of the sector by 2030. That is why we will support the Government's motion this afternoon. However, there are two big shadows that hang over our potential to tackle the increase in exports. Of course, Brexit, which, despite what Dean Lockhart was saying earlier, is a massive restriction and could have a massive impact on our trade. If you look at the report in terms of our major exporting countries, most of them are in Europe, and we need to recognise that Brexit is going to damage potential relations with those countries. That is one of the big shadows. The second big shadow—this is where Dean Lockhart is right—is around about independence. There is considerable uncertainty about the currency and when that would come in, how it would come in, what it would be and, therefore, how companies can plan for the future if they do not even know what kind of currency they will be exercising in. There are two big shadows, and that is why we need to recognise that what we need is that this country is to be an open, internationalist country that breaks down barriers rather than build them up. For that reason, we will be supporting Dean Lockhart's amendment this afternoon. I thought that Rhoda Grant did make a very good case for making sure that we do meet the targets that the Government has set itself previously, and she has helpfully highlighted that we have not managed to achieve that, but also a concern about how we keep businesses growing in this country and owned locally. We want to make sure that we get foreign direct investment because that can be healthy, it can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of businesses, but we also want to make sure that we can anchor the businesses here in this country. In fact, the best anchor for businesses in this country is the quality of the workforce that we have here. That is why good businesses come to this country to continue to grow. We are going to support the Patrick Harvie's amendment as well. I am regularly briefed by the trade justice group in St Andrews. They keep me well informed. They are most the polite and persistent group of campaigners. They highlight tax avoidance, labour exploitation, environmental standards and democratic scrutiny. In fact, we work with Jeremy Furbys on making amendments in the House of Lords to the trade bill, but we also recognise that there is a considerable effort to make sure that people are not left behind, that there is not labour exploitation, that everyone gets the benefit of improving exports and global trade. For that reason, we will support Patrick Harvie's amendment as well. Thank you. We move on to the open debate. Emma Harper, followed by Maureen Watt, Ms Harper. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this important debate this afternoon. I support the motion that is presented by the Scottish Government and welcome the significant investment of £20 million in the trade nation strategy. From the outset of my contribution, I want to put on record again that Scotland has the most fantastic goods, particularly food and drink, produced by our hard-working farmers, producers and small and medium enterprises. Indeed, there are world-class goods and produce, and I say world-class because it is important that we be bold and proud of what our country can achieve. Our world-class products are sought after around the globe and are known for the provenance, the quality in terms of our food and drink and the delicious taste. Food and drink is worth more than £2.5 million per day to Scotland's economy. That is £912.5 million each year. Imagine what we could do with that money if it stayed here in Scotland. Of course, as well as food and drink, we also have an equally important engineering and manufacturing sector. I am pleased that Dumfries and Galloway have recently seen the creation of the Dumfries and Galloway Manufacturing and Engineering Network, which brings together local businesses such as Jaspy Wilson, DuPont, BSW Timber and others to share best practice, best experience and best knowledge. They support trade and access to the wider EU and international markets. I hope that the minister will accept the invite that I have sent him to come and meet members of the network to see what support the Scottish Government may be able to offer. Our goods in Scotland are, however, under threat by the national uncertainty over Brexit. Members will know from previous contributions that I have made in chamber that I have been carrying out a great deal of work on protected geographical indicators, PGI. PGIs are awarded by the EU to goods in Scotland to ensure that they are not open to cheap and inferior imitation from other countries and businesses around the world. Those indicators will protect our Scotch whisky, which is worth almost £5 billion to the UK's economy each year. Of course, there are our Scotch beef, Scotch lamb, arborosmokies, Ayrshire Dunlop cheese and even Ayrshire tatties in my south Scotland region. Those might be negotiated away by the UK Government in pursuit of cheap trade deals with America. Not only might those products suffer from trade deals, but our farmers and producers in small and medium-sized enterprises could end up with lower-quality food being brought into Scotland as well as the rest of the UK. Food with low animal welfare standards, poor provenance and some such as chlorinated chicken may present health risks. I am sure that members will agree that we do not want to include chlorinated chicken or hormone-injected beef in our trade deals. Scotch whisky from Tennessee might be seen on our supermarket shelves, and I would absolutely oppose changing any of our PGI status for our fantastic produce. I ask the Scottish Government to continue to do all that it can to prevent such an occurrence. In the face of the current EU exit uncertainty, I am pleased that the Scottish Government's a trading nation publication gives a clear signal of our ambition in Scotland to remain an open progressive nation where our businesses trade in global markets. Dean Lockhart mentioned the lack of info about digital support. It is there on page 70 in a trade nation. Section 6.4 is titled digital support. It says that working with partners to seize the opportunities via trading digitally. I am about to close, but I will be happy to send him over page 70 if he thinks that that might help. Achieving that ambition to see international exports almost double from their current value of £32 billion by 2029 is what we are seeking. I would like to ask the Scottish Government and perhaps the Tories to lobby the UK Government to prevent our goods, particular food and drink, from being traded away in the current Brexit chaos. I am pleased to be taking part in the debate. I congratulate the minister for his work in the area of Scotland as a trading nation and the new export action plan, which is important at any time, but even more important at this time of such domestic, UK uncertainty and global trade disruption, not least from Brexit and the US president. Apparently, that is now termed slobalisation. It is encouraging that the Fraser of Allander Institute welcomes the level of analysis that has gone into the decisions taken by the minister in this plan and says that, I quote, everyone should welcome the new analysis and evidence provided. It says that marks a significant step forward in our understanding of the challenges and opportunities that Scotland faces in its efforts to boost international trade. It is true that Scotland's exports are less than many other comparable countries and that our export base is concentrated in a small number of sectors and firms. That is not unusual for small countries to have their exports in a small number of firms and sectors or markets, but it seems that we have a particular challenge on that here in Scotland. With relatively limited resources and business support through our enterprise agencies, it is important that the focus in the trading nation focuses on what are the export strengths that the Scottish Government should promote, where should we promote those strengths and when should we step up our presence in those markets, who should we work with most intensively to boost our export performance and how do we best configure Government and wider support to deliver our export goals. It is interesting that the work has profiled the 26 countries that account for 80 per cent of our current exports and the export value gap, and where the bulk of future growth may come from. Those countries include US, China, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, Netherland, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, Ireland, Norway and Denmark. It will not have escaped everybody in the chamber that 10 out of the 15 countries that I mentioned are in the EU. It is wrong to say that there is not still substantial growth that can be had in EU countries. It is absolute folly that the UK Government is preparing to upset those trading links through pursuing Brexit and even countenancing a hard Brexit. Food and drink is one of the key sectors of export to our European neighbours, not least the fresh fish products from the processors in my Aberdeen South and North Cincardin constituency. Not only are those markets in Jeopardy, but even if they continue, the DEFRA Minister refuses to guarantee priority access for those perishables on ferries crossing the channel. Similarly, the said UK Government Minister for Environment, Food and the Rural Economy is resigned to seeing the lamb export and thus our sheep sector go to the wall as a victim of Brexit. I cannot for the life of me work out how he squares this with his declared concern for climate change if we have to import lamb from New Zealand in polluting ships and aircraft. Presiding Officer, while food and drink is undoubtedly a Scottish success story and there is still much growth to be had in that sector, I would like in my final few sentences to mention the worldwide growth that is still to be had in the energy sector, including renewables. I would like to highlight Aberdeen-based global pipe components, which specialise in manufacturing and supplying pipes and valves to the oil and gas and petrochemical industries. Currently, more than 80 per cent of their products go overseas and they praise the global Scot network for helping them to identify markets. I hope that the minister already has offshore Europe 2019 firmly fixed in his diary. Deputy Presiding Officer, I am pleased to be able to speak in this debate, as the Scottish Conservatives spokesman on trade and investment, to speak here about what we are talking about, about how Scotland can seize on the opportunities that await us in future trading relationships. First of all, the trading plan that was announced earlier this month in Edinburgh by the First Minister was a welcome step in the right direction, with plans for 17,500 extra jobs as a result of boosting exports. However, it does come against the background of failure over recent years from the SNP. The First Minister talked at that launch of boosting Scotland's exports, so it accounts for a quarter of Scotland's GDP in the next decade. My colleague Dean Lockhart spoke about that issue, because at a UK level, it already accounts for 30 per cent of GDP, in contrast to the Scottish situation. That is a plan that has been long overdue from the Scottish Government. Not only do it need to boost exports as a percentage of GDP, but there has been a massive failure to increase the value of our exports. The 2011 economic strategy already referred to outline plans to increase the value of Scotland's exports by 50 per cent between 2010 and 2017, but the Scottish Government has missed that target by billions. I'm taking intervention and thanks for your comments on the plan. That's appreciated. Just in terms of the data points, you're absolutely right, and we fully recognise that that target is missed and that there is more work to be done. However, it is also important to recognise, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, that Scotland's exports grew at 4.7 per cent per year over the past 10 years, compared with 4.3 per cent for the UK as a whole. We are going faster than the UK average. Gordon Alun Tarst? I certainly welcome any positive growth, such as the minister refers to, but one has to look at the overall picture and recognise where we are missing the mark, as it were, and missing the step. A recent announcement from the Scottish National Party Government was the dramatic U-turn about the plans to cut air departure tax. I'm acutely aware of that as a representative of the capital Lothian region and of Edinburgh airport's response to the Government's position on that. They rightly questioned the reactionary, perhaps populist, move. One might describe it to scrap the plans, considering that they had made a promise that had just been repeated. I did question the minister on this last week's highlighting page 73 in the trading nation plan, which stresses the importance of connecting Scotland's international markets through long-haul flights, including via Edinburgh airport. I do, like other members, recognise the need and the importance of tackling climate change. That is one of the reasons that I questioned that move by the Government, because, of course, it will result in passengers on polluting short-haul flights from hubs such as London or Amsterdam, Dublin and other places that the long-haul flights go to instead of coming direct to Scotland. Not having those direct international links will dampen growth prospects for Scotland and cut us out of those opportunities. Of course, if we are going to seize the opportunity for the many sectors in the coming years that we wish to and boost our exports, it is disappointing that we have this debate within 24 hours of the SNP Government announcing yet again plans to drag us back into the issue of another divisive referendum, in their case an independence referendum. That simply creates a further difficulty with an air of uncertainty for businesses at this time, when, in fact, we need to embrace the opportunities that are opening up to the country. The question that needs to be answered by the minister is whether the Government will focus on those opportunities for Scotland and see how we can move things forward, or is the Government going to focus on that in the ref obsession, as some would call it? We have to tighten up on timings, please. No more than four minutes. John McAlpine, followed by Willie Coffey. I welcome the publication of A Trading Nation. Not only is it a well-researched and evidence-based document, not only is it an extremely ambitious plan, but it is backed up by an additional £20 million of investment over three years. That sum is significant. However, the prize is worth so much more. A leap in exports from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of Scotland's GDP over 10 years would mean an added £3.5 billion to our national wealth and 17,500 new jobs. It has attracted compliments from third parties. The Fraser of Allander Institute said that what is refreshing about the action plan is the level of analysis that is clearly going into informing the decisions that Mr McKee has taken. I understand that more than 20 data sets were interrogated to build an understanding of the current and future export growth opportunities. An analysis was conducted of current and future global import demand in 100 countries across 66 industrial and 19 service sectors. As a result of all that work, we have a clear path to progress. I welcome the decision based on that evidence to play to Scotland's strength by focusing efforts on activity that will create the greatest impact on the economy. We already know that Scotland's best-performing sectors account for 84 per cent of our export value, so it makes sense that a trading nation focuses on support for these super sectors, and it makes an impressive list of food and drink engineering and advanced manufacturing, life and chemical sciences, technology, digital and media, financial and business services, and of course energy. Representing the rural south of Scotland, I am pleased to see that food and drink is at the top of the list, although not surprised given its success and huge potential. In Dumfries and Galloway alone, it employs 9,000 people—a very significant figure in relation to the region's overall population. A trading nation certainly does a good job of highlighting the strengths of food and drink, which accounts for 20 per cent of Scotland's international exports, or £6 billion in value. Between 2013 and 2018, Scotland's food and drink exports increased internationally from £5.4 billion to £6.3 billion. After food and drink comes engineering and advanced manufacturing, another Scottish success story. In 2017, it made up 17.5 per cent of Scotland's international exports, and it was worth £5.7 billion. Engineering and advanced manufacturing covers things like metal manufacturing, machine and equipment, transport equipment, architectural activities and engineering services, for example design consultancy. We tend to think of those as the export of goods. Often, that is what advanced manufacturing is, which explains why the customs union is so important, given that sophisticated machines can contain parts from all over the world. Rules of origin in the customs union present huge logistical challenges should be outside it. We should not forget that even countries such as Norway, which have agreements with the EU, do not cover services. In fact, no free trade agreement in the world covers services, and the EU single market is by far the most important single market in the world for the free movement of services. I welcome the focus that the trading nation brings to the sectors that we intend to focus on in order to achieve export growth, but I also welcome the parallel focus on where we should be exporting to. The Scottish Government has profiled the 26 countries, which account for over 80 per cent of the current exports and identified the countries share of the export value gap. The gap is calculated by comparing Scotland's current exports with those of similar competitors. The top 15 countries are priority one markets, where the Government expects the bulk of future growth to come from. That is the USA, China, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland and Belgium. In conclusion, that is an ambitious plan, but it is backed by sound evidence and research. I congratulate the minister and all those who worked on a trading nation at a time when Brexit risks shutting Scotland and the UK off from trading partners. It is an important statement that Scotland is open for global business. I re-emphasise that we are short of time in this debate, and I will have to cut people's times if others do not stick to it. I will try and go as fast as I can. In the short time that we have for the debate, I would like to highlight three areas that are of particular interest as we take the trading nation strategy forward. Those are the digital technologies and services, opportunities for Ayrshire to grow its share of a number of markets and the experience of the Irish in particular as an independent trading nation. The trading nation plan itself must be one of the most comprehensive documents that I have seen in my 12 years in Parliament. It is over 200 pages of detailed analysis, showing not only Scotland's strengths but also where we can make significant improvements. It has a useful country-by-country analysis to help us to target where we might best look to increase our exports, and the sectorial analysis also lets us see where the greatest opportunities lie to grow particular parts of the economy. One of those target areas is technology, digital and media services. Scotland already has a thriving technology sector, with over 11,000 technology enterprises operating here, with about 8,000 of them directly related to digital industries. In terms of exports, the whole sector accounts for around £3 billion of export value internationally and about the same again to the rest of the UK, so the technology sector is crucial for us. There are two key issues in my view that we need to make some progress on if we are to make further progress in this sector. The first is tackling the skills gap that we already know about. We need more people in software and web development, sales and marketing to complement the great work that is going on in cloud computing and developing apps for a number of digital services and, of course, our amazing gaming industry. According to Scotland IS, we need about 12,500 people each year, and we are producing about 5,000 from our universities, colleges and apprenticeships, so more needs to be done to bring new talent into this sector, but to also reach out to invite people to retrain and join this fantastic industry. The second issue is how we continue to be part of the European Union's digital single market. If we are pulled out of it as the inept UK Tory government states it tends to do, it would really damage Scotland's economy. It is worth about 400 billion euros per year to economic growth, boosting jobs and innovation, and it is probably worth about £5 billion to the Scottish economy, but only if we are part of that market and not watching from the outside as the UK Government seems determined to take us. The Ayrshire picture is already a success story in terms of many quality exports. Grants of Galston in my constituency specialises in high quality traditional Scottish recipes and exports 40 ha of products to 50 countries worldwide. It relies on its reputation for high quality and standards, as does our famous Tlop cheese that was mentioned earlier by my colleague Emma Harper. The continuing Brexit uncertainty must not be allowed to undermine that reputation that Ayrshire and Scottish exporters have worked over years to preserve. Despite what some say, manufacturing in Ayrshire still accounts for a high proportion of jobs and GVA in the county. Lastly, my point on the Irish experience, if you take a look at the section in the trading nation plan in Ireland and how it developed its international export performance, you can see that in the 70s it exported about 60 per cent of its goods to the UK, similar to what one of the members said earlier in Scotland's current position. However, by using all the powers and levers that it has at its disposal, Ireland's international exports now account for nearly 90 per cent of its entire output because of that incredible growth in those markets. The value of the UK market is still rising year on year, but the international dimension to that growth has been a stunning success, and it is something that I know that the Scottish Government is aspiring to replicate. Finally, in conclusion, I think that the trading nation plan offers Scotland and Ayrshire a new focus to increase and develop our key markets in the coming years. It allows us to learn from the successes of others, and it allows Scotland to develop our key industries in a uniquely challenging and competitive global market. Jackie Baillie, followed by Gil Paterson. Presiding Officer, when the Scottish Government's last export strategy was announced, it was John Swinney that was the finance and economy secretary. Back in those Halcyon days, the target was to increase exports by 50 per cent. At the time, I said that that was ambitious, but I was told that I was being too negative that the target was achievable. There is nothing wrong with ambition, but if you want a target to be anything more than a fantasy, you need to know what you are doing and to back that action with resources. It is disappointing to note that the Scottish Government failed to reach that 50 per cent target by 2017 and, instead, achieved a 35 per cent increase. The level of GDP did not rise and, indeed, the Fraser of Allander Institute observed that export performance has at best flatlined since devolution. Does the minister understand why the Government failed to reach the target? I am keen that he knows that. If he knows why the Government failed, we can be confident that he understands what needs to be done in the future. I have heard a number of people talk about—I am happy to take an intervention if you want to stand up. Ivan McKee. Thank you for taking an intervention. On that point, if you read through the document, we are very clear on understanding what we need to focus on in terms of sectors, in terms of markets, of businesses and what we need to do in the market. In answer to the question why we have not delivered over the last number of years, it is precisely because we have not grasped those challenges and moved them forward as fast as we can. Bearing in mind the point, our exports have been growing faster than the rest of the UK over the last 10 years. Jackie Baillie. Presiding Officer, I welcome the speech from the minister. I have heard so many excuses before that Brexit is causing less exporting activity. He and I do not like Brexit at all, and I agree with him on that. However, Brexit's uncertainty applies to the whole of the UK. Its export rate in the UK increased by more than Scotland, so we can do better. Of course, I want Scotland to export more. The more we export, the more GDP that is generated, the stronger is our economy, and the return to the public purse in taxation is very welcome indeed. Let us be honest, cabinet secretary. I have had a mini speech from you in the middle of mine, so I am not going to take any more interventions. I think that there is a huge untapped potential here, but I am not convinced that the Scottish Government understands all that it needs to do to stimulate an increase in exporting. I fear that, like its predecessor, we have a high-level strategy and a set of targets, but the outcome may well be disappointing. Of course, I welcome the expansion of trade envoys, the better use of the global Scott network, and better working with the Department of International Trade. Equally taking a more specific sectoral approach is good, but we need to recognise that exporting is concentrated in a small number of sectors and businesses. We trade to a small number of markets, and Scotland's exports are much lower than comparable countries in the EU. The majority of Scotland's exports are to the rest of the UK. That is not a surprise, as countries across the world tend to trade with their nearest neighbours more than they do with anyone else. 60 per cent of our exports are to the rest of the UK and 40 per cent to the rest of the world. You might wonder what specific measures the Scottish Government is taking to boost trade to the rest of the UK. Let me give the chamber a flavour of what is to come. It really all starts and ends with the SNP's obsession with independence. Pursuing an economically illiterate policy of independence will create huge uncertainty for business and the economy. Breaking up the UK single market and putting up barriers to trade will create huge obstacles for exports and let us not forget the plans to change the currency. I have to say to the minister that the SNP conference said immediately, not sometime later, and we have the funny spectacle of Derek Mackay and now the minister himself falling over themselves to say how much they still want to use the pound, effectively ceding control back to the Bank of England and the UK Government, so they want independence but not really presiding officer because they will have no control over their currency. Let me say to the minister as gently as I can in concluding. I agree with him about the uncertainty that Brexit causes to businesses in Scotland, but the argument that he uses and his party uses about Brexit are the very arguments that emphasise the uncertainty for businesses with independence. The message from business is simple. Keep the focus on exports, not the constitution. That is what this economy and this country needs. Absolutely no more than four minutes. Gil Paterson followed by Tom Leeson. Presiding Officer, can I refer the public to my register of interests? Presiding Officer, in my view the document Scotland, the trading nation, is a substantial piece of work which is in a comprehensive format that is easily understood and points the way forward for Scotland to improve its economic future through increased exports. The document contains everything from comparing the export portfolios of similar sized countries and recent improvements to their export performance to an in-depth analysis of Scotland's exports, current market shares and trading partner details. That comprehensive and well-informed approach will undoubtedly lead to better decisions by both government and the wider business community in Scotland, and can only result in a more expansive and inclusive attitude to increasing our export base and our economic growth. Compare the positive Scottish business approach to the disaster of Brexit and what that is already doing to business confidence throughout the UK. That is before any final resolution to Brexit outcomes, which, with a potential no-deal exit, will certainly get worse. What is particularly encouraging is the proposed increase by the Scottish Government to facilitate and encourage new and smaller businesses to become involved in export markets. When you realise that all the businesses in Scotland have 340,000 businesses in Scotland, only 11,000 of them are in export, and of that number, a number of 500 amount to account for 80 per cent of Scotland's export, you further realise that the huge potential is yet untapped. However, it should be noted that a considerable number of Scottish businesses, like mine, are involved in the supply chain for manufacturing and exporting products from my business find its way to almost every single country in the world at the moment, and we are not a giant business, I can assure you. It is encouraging that, with the right planned and economic policies, Scotland can emulate similar-sized countries' export performance. Currently, Scotland exports 20 per cent of its GDP, while in Norway it is 35 per cent. In Finland, it is 39 per cent. In Denmark, it is 55 per cent. Of course, those are all independent countries. As a first-step target of 25 per cent of Scottish GDP by 2029, it should be achievable with the initiatives that are contained in the trading nation plan and a successive commitment from future Scottish Governments should see that happen. The enormity of the potential improvement from 20 per cent of GDP to 25 per cent of GDP by 2029 will secure an additional 3.5 billion to GDP annually and will generate 17,500 jobs in the Scottish business community. Also to Scotland's advantage is the diversity of our export range and our business expertise from engineering and advanced manufacturing, food and drink, technology, digital and media, energy, financial and business services, chemical sciences and life sciences, which are enormous and lots more. That is all before we consider the knock on economic effects of tourism and education, both of them on the ascendancy. What is pleasing is the expansion of the global Scots network from 600 to 2000 worldwide, with 500 in Europe by 2020, promoting Scotland the brand, a brand that is already with some traction throughout the world. Like other similar countries who, in the past centuries, exported their people all over the world, the proposal to energise business with the Scottish diaspora is a real exciting initiative. I let me finish by welcoming this Presiding Officer and I certainly will be supporting the motion. I welcome today's debate on the complex set of issues. At the same time, I welcome the Scottish Government's recent paper. It is not perfect, but it is a start. Striking future trade deals is a reserved matter, so it is important to frame our discussions on trade through existing structures. The report is right to focus on expanding the exports among businesses that would make the greatest impact on our economy. The more holistic approach involving Government enterprise agencies and the wider business community is certainly worthwhile. Presiding Officer, we face a situation in which our exports have diverged from those of the rest of the UK over the past two decades, having been roughly equivalent in 1998 and are now more than 10 per cent apart as a share of GDP at 220.1 per cent compared with 30.2 per cent across the UK. We also have a problem that not enough businesses are exporting despite having the capacity to do so. The 8 per cent of businesses have the right profile for exporting, but our yet to try must be given the chance to do so. That highlights an important role for export skills training and key element that was not considered in depth in the paper. I think that our business culture has become risk adverse compared with previous generations, and helping them to export more would go a long way to correcting that. Training in languages is something that I think could be improved, particularly in Germany, given that this is one of the main target markers identified in the report. Given that this Government's own target to increase exports by 50 per cent since 2010 has been missed by some margin at a cost of £3.7 billion to the economy, there is considerable ground to make up. It is important that we all engage with this issue and try to provide some solutions. For our part, the Scottish Conservatives have set out a variety of proposals that seek to improve how we go about exporting through our independent report, the new Scottish model. Chief among the main proposals is the creation of a Scottish exporting institute to gather experts in this field and use that experience to help with export training and certification. That is a serious suggestion that I asked ministers to consider in the strongest possible terms. It could be of use not just across the country, but across different sectors as well. In my own region in the north-east, one of the most important sectors is, of course, energy. As we emerge from a downturn in the oil price and explore new sources of energy, it is important to try and to help those organisations to expand their reach in all manner of business activities. Scotland has a surplus of natural resources, so we should work to make the most of any opportunity to use them. I understand the minister who will be speaking at the energy exports conference in Aberdeen next month. I believe that this is the kind of event that we should be attending to. This paper and our discussion today are steps in the right direction. We need to improve our exporting performance so that we can consider ideas on their merits no matter where they come from. I hope that we will be able to consider concrete proposals in due course and, where necessary, make the changes needed to advance the economic potential of our export. Thank you, Presiding Officer. For centuries Scotland has reached overseas for commerce and for culture. Contacts through the years were particularly strong with the Low Countries, France, Hanseatic League, the German nations and so many more. Sadly, most of those relationships came to an end following the Treaty of Union in 1707 and with the consequent narrowing of our horizons to focus on the rest of the UK and their empire. In more modern times, we have again taken our natural instinct to reach out to our neighbours and further afield and establish new and revitalised trading links across the globe, but particularly again with Europe. In the face of, assumingly, inevitable Brexit, which will seriously damage the strong links that have been established with Europe, I welcome the Scottish Government focusing on growing our exports and seeking to maintain and nurture our businesses as a trading nation. Boosting Scotland's export performance is important. It is important to Scotland's economy, encouraging jobs to be created and growing GDP, both of which would lead to increased resources so that public services can be improved and make Scotland an even more attractive place to live in and to trade with. It has been a decade since the beginning of the financial crash and the subsequent great recession. It has also been a decade since the introduction of the Scottish Government's national performance framework, which measures performance and progress towards the Scottish Government's economic priorities. The time is right to review and refresh. It is vital that Scotland remains a good place in which to do business, and I welcome the Scottish Government initiative to ensure that the Scottish business environment enables businesses to achieve their potential. It is an unfortunate reality that, in Scotland, businesses are more often being acquired rather than scaled up. If the money was reinvested back into the Scottish economy, that could be beneficial. However, it can also result in the loss of entrepreneurial role models and experienced people to manage larger-scale businesses based in Scotland. Targeted employee ownership policies and incentives may help to keep business ownership in Scotland. Other policies could provide the anchoring effect that is needed to embed businesses in Scotland, including ensuring that there is adequate investment not just from Government but from other sources. We need more large businesses based in Scotland to support those coming through the pipeline. I welcome the Scottish Government economic action plan, which states that, to improve the ability of Scotland's businesses to export, we will build on the recommendations of the Enterprise and Skills Strategic Board to set out a range of detailed actions in a trading nation. The 10-year plan for growing Scotland's exports to achieve 25 per cent of GEP is ambitious, as should all Scottish Government plans be. I also welcome the £20 million in new investment over the next three years to achieve that, but more to investing £2 million over three years to intensively support 50 high-export growth businesses per year to ramp up overseas ambitions and activity, to create 100 new business-to-business peer mentorships per year for new exporters, to expand the network of in-market sector specialists working in overseas markets to identify untaught potential and connect Scottish businesses to exploit that, to increase export finance support for Scottish companies looking to enter new markets. Last week, the cross-party group in Germany had Dr Ulrich Hopp, director general of the German British Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Commerce, as our guest speaker. He spoke about the importance of imports and exports between the UK and Germany and the specific importance of trade relationships within Scotland. During his presentation, Dr Hopp quoted the national statistics that 10 per cent of Scottish exports are sent to Germany. That represents the third highest non-UK union exports from Scotland. The only countries above Germany are the Netherlands with 15 per cent and the USA with 12 per cent. He was also clear that Scotland is highly valued in Germany and across Europe as a great place to do trade with, and despite the never-ending Brexit debacle, Scotland continues to be valued across these countries, and we should welcome and build on this. Finally, the Scottish Government needs to do all it can to boost the Scottish economy and exports are very much key to that. Once again, I welcome the Scottish Government initiative. We now move to the closing speeches. Patrick Harvie, four minutes please. Rhoda Grant kindly said that she had sympathy with almost all of what was in the Green amendment, and I reciprocate. That is the way I feel about the Labour amendment as well, which raises some important issues such as the threat of takeover, which can increase the risk of tax avoidance and the loss of intellectual property. Those are important concerns to raise. I have to say that those are challenges that can only be achieved through international co-operation such as EU membership, and I hope that the Labour Party would agree with that. However, the Scottish Government's amendment does endorse the Scottish Government's targets with which I continue to have a problem. As for the Tory amendment, the Conservative party continues to raise the issue of currency with its own particular kind of constitutional obsession. Mr Lockhart reminded me of the little dog with a coffee cup in the meme. Uncertainty from independence is intolerable, but as the flames of Brexit uncertainty lick around him, Mr Lockhart says, this is fine. It is also implicit from what Mr Lockhart is saying. It is implicit from his amendment that he thinks that it is impossible to have easy trading arrangements and open borders between, for example, Sweden and Norway, or Ireland and Northern Ireland, if it is in a post-Brexit scenario, inside and outside the European Union, with different currencies. Countries solve those problems around the world, including within the continent of Europe, on a daily basis. The status quo proves that the problems that Mr Lockhart is concerned with are not real. Very briefly, I can take one. An independent currency would require a new Scottish central bank with reserves of up to say £50 billion. How would Mr Harvey fund that? Would it be from public funding? When we have a full debate on independence, I will have plenty of time. I am going to stick with the debate that we are having today. The pro-independence movement is explicitly internationalist. Brexit and increasingly the Tory party are clearly economic nationalists. They should abandon their Brexit obsession and engage positively with ideas about how to modernise and change the UK if they want to save it. Neither the Labour nor the Conservative amendments today nor, indeed, the Scottish Government's strategy, engage with the existential threats that humanity is facing, threats that we have brought about by the way that we run the global economy. Those threats need government action in response, both domestically and multilaterally, through international co-operation, not through free markets. In short, whatever people see as the benefits from trade and increasing GDP, there will be no jobs on a dead planet. That is what this debate needs to engage with. There is an alternative. I really want to emphasise that the green approach to this is not anti-trade. There is a fair, just and sustainable approach to trade that is possible, from high-quality food and drink protected from the free market race to the bottom on standards, to renewable energy instead of the lethal fossil fuel industry that is still too dominant in our economy, to the digital and creative industries and, indeed, education. However, if we are going to achieve that fair, sustainable and just alternative, we must be focused not just on how much but on how and what and who and the impact on people's lives. In short, we must commit in a way that I am sorry that the Scottish Government's strategy does not to the principles of trade justice that this Parliament has previously endorsed but which I am afraid today are missing from the Scottish Government's trade strategy. James Kelly, five minutes please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I think that it has been quite an interesting debate with a number of good contributions across the chamber. I know that there has not been consensus in some areas but I think that there has been some stimulating points made. It is right that the Government brings forward this document to meet the export challenges. As Jackie Baillie pointed out, the targets have been missed. The 50 per cent target that the Government set based on 2010 figures is only reached 35 per cent. Therefore, the Government needs to look at how it addresses the shortcomings in its current export strategy. Maureen Watt made a really good point that a lot of it is based around a small number of firms. Clearly, in order to extend that, we need a wider range of firms to export them. We also need to be wary of the arrangements that we get into. Patrick Harvie made a lot of very relevant points about trade justice and also Rhoda Grant pointed out that a lot of jobs in the economy are still woefully underpaid. We have nearly half a million people not being paid the living wage, so the strategy needs to take account of those issues. There was quite a bit of discussion from Dean Lockhart, Emma Harper and Willie Coffey on the digital issues. I think that that is quite important. Dean Lockhart was right to point out the importance of embedding digital in businesses that I looked to export. I am really interested in that. Willie Coffey, I thank you very much to James for taking the intervention. Can you clarify Labour's position in this, James? Is Labour in favour of staying in the digital single market, which is worth £400 billion or coming out of it, as the Tories proposed? I first of all say that you should not have private conversations always through me, and could you use people's full names, please? James Kelly. I think that the points that Willie Coffey made about the digital single market are very valid and should be taken on board by all parliaments and parties. The point that I was going on to make was that Willie Coffey addressed the issue of the skills gap and quoted the fact that there were 12,500 IT places required and that we were only producing enough to fill 5,000. I thought that figure was absolutely astonishing. I had done a bit of research around the issue ahead of the debate and there is a real problem going all the way back to schools in terms of computing science. From 2007 to 2017, there has been a drop in the number of students studying computing science at schools from 4,500 to 4,960 to 4,091. At a time when technology has continued to expand, that also correlates with a reduction in the number of teachers from 766 to 595. I am sure that the Scottish Government is minister and will be talking about what it is doing on digital, but it has a big challenge going all the way through schools, colleges and university straight into industry. A number of contributions covered the dangers of Brexit. Willie Rennie, Joan McAlpine, made very good points about the customs union. I do not think that he can make all those as we frequently hear all those speeches warning about the dangers of Brexit, the collapse in trade arrangements and the impact that that will have on the economy. We heard earlier on from the finance secretary that there will be a billion pounds black hole in the Scottish budget up to 2023. He attributed a lot of that down to Brexit, but he cannot make all those statements and submit all that evidence and ignore the fact that, if he then proposed a second independence referendum, when 60 per cent of our trade and our exports is with the rest of the UK, it is almost to turn a blind eye to the reality of that debate. I also point out to the Government that, at a time when we need to be dealing with the issues around exports, we need to be dealing with the wider issues in the economy and the crisis in public services for the Government to embark on the vanity project of producing a referendum bill and want to waste Parliament's time and public money on a diversion issue rather than on the real issues that affect people in local communities and businesses. Let's deal with the issues that were sent to this Parliament to address. Jamie Halcro Johnston, six minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Trade is a vital component of any globalised economy. Our future economic success will depend in some considerable measure on our ability to export, but it is also to import and attract foreign direct investment here to Scotland. As a proportion of our GDP, Scotland has unfortunately lagged behind in volume of trade, while there has been some growth in recent years. It hasn't been a uniformly positive picture. Our export figures fell backwards in 2014 and 2016, and when looked at in real terms, even our positive export growth begins to look a little anemic. It is important, as we go forward, that growth not only continues consistently but accelerates. We have many success stories. Many Scottish exports are well known in every corner of the world. In my region, the highlands and islands, we have some of the finest food and drink producers in the world. In Murray, Baxter, Walkers and enough distilleries to keep the world in drams, meet from Orkney Seafood from Shetland. While trading goods is perhaps the most obvious form of exporting, in recent decades we have seen a huge shift in the type of exports that we trade in, with growth in the services sector racing ahead of goods and manufacturing. A successful strategy must look towards emerging markets for both, getting the basics right is essential. In our island communities, such as Orkney, Shetland and Westernau in my region, there is a clear need for comprehensive future planning on freight. Overseas trade will seem a distant hope if islands landed fish or other produce is left waiting on quayside at local ports because of a lack of capacity to get it even to the Scottish mainland. Our road connections are in many places poor. After far too many years of campaigning, A9 dualling is taking pace but at a slow pace, and dualling of the A96 remains in its planning phase. Problems remain with our air links, both to other parts of the UK and to the wider world. Even from a passenger perspective, they are expensive and could be unreliable, whether that is because of whether technical issues or industrial disputes. In addition to this infrastructure, the foundations must be in place to operate in a global market for services. Despite the future economy being powered by digital connectivity, the Highlands and Islands continues to be left behind on broadband roll-out with some of the worst services in Scotland. Unless exporting becomes a reality for all of Scotland's regions, we will be held back. It is not for the promises or ambitious targets that we find ourselves in this position. The Scottish Government's economic strategy was published in 2011 with its headline target missed by a wide margin. A trading nation reasonably identifies a number of sectors where we can make gains, as well as priority target markets. It would be useful to understand if the minister in summing up could understand where their current trade resources are being focused appropriately on those areas. A particular priority should be given to high-value exports and productivity gains should be considered. Government working with businesses can and should make a real difference. One measure that we can take is close alignment on trade policy with the UK Government and its unrivaled international networks and reach. I welcome some of the intergovernmental activity that has taken place, but it must bring results. In March this year, the Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee published its report, Scotland, Trade and Brexit. It welcomed the moves towards a truly UK-wide trade policy, recognised the need for formalised trade discussions through the joint ministerial committee and outlined how future trade agreements could involve the devolved Administrations. A team UK approach with the devolved Governments working with the UK Government rather than separately would be a significant positive for Scottish business. However, as the committee said, this will require goodwill and trust from both sides. Complementing rather than duplicating must be the way forward in the international arena. Those points are extremely important, but none of them should bind us to the fact that, as Jackie Baillie highlighted, Scotland's biggest trading partner, with which it trades more than the rest of the world put together, is other parts of the United Kingdom. That is unsurprising. The closeness of our internal domestic market makes the sale of goods and services straightforward. Our common legal structures and political institutions drive frictionless trade across these islands. The end result is in an arrangement that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs here in Scotland. While bodies such as SDI focus their efforts internationally, there is, as Dean Lockhart highlighted, much more we can do to build up markets for Scottish goods and services in the rest of the UK. Instead, as we saw yesterday, the S&P's position on another independence referendum put those vital links at risk. We should also recognise that only a small minority of businesses export. The CBI identified that at around 8 per cent. That has been acknowledged for some time. The economy committee's report on internationalisation of Scotland's businesses, for example, was released several years ago, yet little progress has been made to expand out that base. Given our increased reliance on small and medium-sized businesses, we should be active in promoting even our smallest firms where appropriate to export and to find and harness opportunities across the globe. I do not have time to talk about all the very positive contributions that were around the chamber today, but my colleague, Dean Lockhart, started by noting some stark facts. Among them, half of Scotland's exports come from a very small number of businesses. That, with major growth potential of economies outside of Europe, we need to be able to seize trading opportunities in more fast-growing markets. He also outlined a number of sensible proposals aimed at boosting trade and building on the partnerships and links that we have as part of the UK to give Scotland a modern global reach. He also, as Willie Rennie and others have highlighted, how the S&P's recent push to break up the United Kingdom and create uncertainty over currency will have a devastating impact on Scotland's position globally. Goldenlyndus has also noted— I thought that it had seven minutes to speak. Presiding Officer, trade is an important component of our future economic development, and there is a real imperative to grow and to create an environment where our trade links with the world can flourish. We have to start by looking locally. What are the barriers that exist for our businesses to expand? What are they prepared for reaching other markets? Both of Scotland's Governments must work together and they must deliver for Scotland's businesses. Ivan McKee, eight minutes should take us to decision time, please minister. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It has been an interesting debate. I have a few positive contributions, and some, frankly, from people who clearly haven't read the report or understood what it says. Touch on a couple before I go into more detail on the Opposition amendments. Willie Coffey raised the issue of digital services and skills, hugely important, recognised in the report and pushing airshut, as well as he should. Emma Harper invited me to go and visit local businesses. I am delighted to take up that offer, as with any other members who have a similar offer to businesses that they want me to meet and engage with. Tom Mason has very constructive input about energy and the importance of that sector, and some ideas that we can perhaps engage on. In turning to the Opposition amendments and, first of all, looking at the green amendment, and to be fair, much to agree with in there, I think that the problem that we've got with it is that it deletes everything, and Kenny says that the work that's been done here is not worth anything, which I think is absolutely clearly not the case, because it does give a very substantial foundation for our actions going forward. In terms of the point about beyond GDP, the member is or should be aware that the Scottish Government is very much engaged in the well-being economy discussions with other other countries. There's an awful lot of them, which I'm sure are very interesting conversations going on, but could you hold them until after decision time, please? Other economies include Iceland, New Zealand, Sylvania, Korea and others, and that is an area that we're engaged in looking at and understanding what other measures there are beyond GDP. It's something that is on the radar, but the problem that I asked the member to propose on a tentative measure revealed that there aren't any. One author that I will make is that he'll understand that he's read the report, there's a section in there on evaluation frameworks, and that is something that we are taking on boards to do some significant work on, and I'm quite happy to engage with the member if he can come forward with some hard measures that we can add in to include roundabout in addition to the measures that we've already proposed. I'm a bit disappointed on that he didn't engage in the debate around sectors where Scotland has a significant advantage around low-carbon and renewables to develop those technologies and export them internationally, a key part of our export strategy going forward. Just touching on the fair trade principles and fair trade nation, he's right that the Parliament voted for those principles, and this party did, so a programme for government covers that issue and Scotland is a fair trade nation, something that we are all proud of. Turning to the Labour amendment, mainly focused on FDI, and I should let the Labour member know that there's a grant, that there's a piece of work on FDI coming along in the next few months, which will go into a lot more detail about our strategy on that, but fair to say that it's very, very important to recognise that FDI just isn't about investment, it's about bringing talent, bringing people, bringing technology, bringing access to markets internationally, and I know of several examples of businesses in Scotland that have been bought internationally, which has allowed them to thrive and prosper, including some in my constituency, so that's very much a mixed picture. Willie Rennie's point about the anchor is hugely important, we do need to have those businesses anchored, those sectors anchored, and our strategy is increasingly focused on building on the expertise that we have in our academic institutions, the skills and technology that we enjoy, the natural resources that we enjoy in Scotland to ensure that we've got sectors that have stickability within our economy. The Labour amendment calls for us to talk to businesses. I can let the grant know that I've spoken to more than 100 businesses in the last 11 months about export within Scotland and continue to do so, and we've engaged with more than 50 sector and other organisations in terms of putting together the export plan, so I haven't been slacking on that front. I want to cover across a few of the points that Dean Lockhart raised, and I must say that I'm a bit disappointed that Dean Lockhart should have a better understanding of what that is all about and should have read through the analysis that's in the paper. He talked about the priority countries and the reflex reaction to Europe bad emerging goods without understanding or acknowledging the huge amount of work that's gone into the evidence base to analyse the 15 drivers of where economic growth in terms of Scotland's exports will come from. I would recommend that he reads the methodology paper and if there's any comments on that, the way that those 15 indicators are balanced or anything about the maths that's in there, please come back and talk to us, but otherwise please stop just throwing up sound bites about emerging good, Europe bad, please. Dean Lockhart, thanks very much. The minister talks about the new export strategy, as if he's part of a new incoming administration. The reality is that his government has been in power for 12 years and has missed every one of its own economic targets, including on exports. Can the minister explain what has gone wrong over the past 12 years? Are far and back to the point that I made earlier. Yes, we understand, we've got challenges, we understand that we didn't hit the 50 per cent target, but we also should recognise, and I've told him this three times already this afternoon, the Scotland's exports for the last 10 years have grown at 4.7 per cent, which is higher than the UK average over that time of 4.3 per cent. Yes, we've got work to do, but we're doing better than any other part of the UK. Emma Harper has already put him right on the point about digital, which is covered thoroughly in section 6.4 of the plan. He talks about us not having any actions. There are more than 100 individual actions in the export plan that I will be tracking forward in the weeks and months ahead to make sure that we hit those targets. Please don't accuse us of not having a clear action plan on that. It's very clear and very thorough in terms of what it covers. I want to quickly touch on a few business quotes. CBI, a data-driven approach that identifies private sectors and markets is hugely welcome, and it does the efforts to simplify the export and landscape. Fraser of Ander Institute, an excellent piece of evidence-based policymaking, Scotland IS, is very much welcome to this ambitious plan to grow Scotland's exports. In chambers of commerce, we welcome the Scottish Government's export growth plan. It's a key enabler in boosting Scotland's export potential and enhancing Scotland's profile on the international stage. All those organisations recognise the work that's going into this plan and the importance that it has in driving forward Scotland's export performance. I don't have time to touch on all our wonderful sectors. Several have been mentioned already, food and drink, with a world-beating whisky sector and a food sector that is going from strength to strength, key strengths in the energy sector, particularly in the transition to low-carbon and our renewable sector, where we are genuinely world-class. Life science and drug discovery and precision medicine and others are again genuinely world-class. Fintech, digital tech media have already been mentioned. The fabulous space sector is looking forward to taking a big slice of that world market going forward. Another area such as quantum and nanotechnology, where again Scotland is genuinely world-class with huge export opportunities in those markets going forward. Just to finish up and conclude the presiding officer, through the cost of my job, I've got the pleasure to visit on Scotland's behalf international markets. I've done 11 such trips over the last 11 months. In every one of those I go to, Scotland is held in high regard for our skills, our technology and our products and countries recognise that and want to trade with us. However, when I look at almost all those countries in Europe, they are doing better than us. Countries of similar size to us, countries with less resources than us, countries with not as well-developed academic institutions as we have. The reason why, as Willie Coffey pointed out earlier on when he talked about the Irish experience, it's about our ambition, it's about Scotland being ambitious enough to stand around two feet, take full control of the economy, because the difference between us and those countries that are doing so much better than us is one thing and one thing only, is that their independence, their normal independent countries, are full control over their economies and economic levers, and that is where Scotland is going, and that is what will drive our economy forward in the long term. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, and that concludes this afternoon's debate on a trading nation. Before we turn to decision time, I just wanted to address the point of order that was raised by Murdo Fraser earlier about the publication of forecasting information. The provision of information such as this is a matter that is dealt with, that is not dealt with, I should say, in standing order, so it's not a matter for the Presiding Officer. The timings for the provision of this information is set out in a protocol between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Fiscal Commission. The protocol sets out that the commission report will be published on the commission's website after the cabinet secretary has delivered his statement and laid before Parliament on the day of publication. Mr Fraser may wish to raise his concerns with the Government on this point, but I recognise that if he wishes to do so, there will be an opportunity at forthcoming meetings of the Finance and Constitution Committee. I would thank Mr Fraser for raising that point of order. We turn now to decision time. There are four questions today. The first question is that amendment 17436.2, in the name of Dean Lockhart, which seeks to amend motion 17436, in the name of Ivan McKee, on a trading nation, be agreed? Are we agreed? We're not agreed. We'll move to division. Members may cast their votes now. The result of the vote on amendment 17436.2, in the name of Dean Lockhart, is yes, 51, no, 65. There were no abstentions. The amendment is therefore not agreed. The next question is that amendment 17436.1, in the name of Rhoda Grant, which seeks to amend motion 17436, be agreed? Are we agreed? We're not agreed. We'll move to division. Members may cast their votes now. The result of the vote on amendment 17436.1, in the name of Rhoda Grant, is yes, 51, no, 59. There were six abstentions. The amendment is therefore not agreed. The next question is that amendment 17436.3, in the name of Patrick Harvie, which seeks to amend motion 17436, be agreed? Are we agreed? We're not agreed. We'll move to division. Members may cast their votes now. The result of the vote on amendment 17436.3, in the name of Patrick Harvie, is yes, 10, no, 87. There were 18 abstentions. The amendment is therefore not agreed. The final question is that motion 17436, in the name of Ivan McKee, on a trading nation, be agreed? Are we agreed? We're not agreed. We'll move to vote. Members may cast their votes now. The result of the vote on motion 17436, in the name of Ivan McKee, is yes, 110, no, six. There were no abstentions. The motion is therefore agreed. That concludes decision time. I close this meeting.