Support for manufacturing

Growing Scotland’s manufacturing industry will help to support the economy at a time of uncertainty as a result of the EU referendum, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said today.

Ms Sturgeon reiterated her commitment to establish a National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland (NMIS) ahead of a visit to the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield today (Monday, 7 November).

The First Minister is in Sheffield to deliver the annual lecture to the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute on economic policy following the EU referendum result.

In her lecture, the First Minister will argue that communities across the UK need to be given more reasons to be optimistic and greater opportunities for the future with an end to the UK Government’s austerity agenda and real investment in jobs and public services.

Ahead of the visit First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“The Scottish Government is looking at ways to grow manufacturing and invest in skilled jobs for the future.

“190,000 people are currently employed in manufacturing, which accounts for 52 per cent of all of Scotland’s international exports.

“Yet we know manufacturing and export industries will suffer if they are outside the single market. Research published by the NIESR economic think-tank last week highlights that a hard Brexit could hit goods exports to the tune of around £3 billion.

“So we must keep supporting the sector and guard against the possible impact of leaving the single market.

“Our Manufacturing Action Plan commits us to establish a National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland, to promote continuous innovation, improve productivity and increase investment.

“With the revitalisation of Scotland’s steel industry and the enormous potential of our low carbon industry, this is the right time to invest in opportunities in our manufacturing sector.

“The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield is a world leading research facility that researches and resolves advanced manufacturing problems, and it is one potential model that we can learn from in developing Scotland’s National Institute of Manufacturing.”

Background

The Manufacturing Action Plan can be viewed at: https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/knowledge-hub/articles/insight/scotlands-manufacturing-action-plan

The Scottish Government has established a multi-partner approach to take forward the development of NMIS, with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Funding Council, Skills Development Scotland and Zero Waste Scotland. The NMIS will seek to work across Scotland and include our universities, our existing innovation centres and other areas of research and innovation.

The First Minister will deliver the annual lecture to the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute at 1800 on Monday, on the topic of: “Scotland and the UK: economic policy after the EU referendum” The lecture will be live streamed at : http://shef.ac/SPERILecture -