Anne MacColl, Chief Executive, Scottish Development International welcomes results from the Ernst & Young UK Attractiveness Survey and European Investment Monitor which reveal strong inward investment success in Scotland in 2011.
Ernst & Young’s latest UK Attractiveness Survey reports almost 6,000 positions were created in Scotland during 2011, from 51 projects – a 50 percent increase of jobs on the previous year making it once again the UK’s leading location for foreign direct investment (FDI) job creation.
Key findings from the survey show that:
- Scotland topped the UK league in terms of job creation from FDI in 2011 for the second year running, with almost 6,000 jobs created in 2011, over 2,000 more than any other region
- Jobs created from FDI in Scotland hit a 12 year high
- ‘Quality of life, diversity, culture and language’ among reasons why Scotland ranks ahead of other parts of the UK as an investment location
- The US was the biggest source of FDI into Scotland overall, accounting for 50 percent of projects
- Norway was second highest investor in Scotland, reflecting the strength of the nation’s oil and gas industry
- As well as leading on projects, the US is also Scotland’s leading source of FDI employment. In 2011, US companies’ investments in Scotland created over 3,700 jobs
- The percentage of Scottish FDI employment originating from the US has now risen from just over 20 percent in 2009 to over 60 percent in 2011
- A total of 1,800 jobs were created in Scotland from European countries, including significant investments from Switzerland, Norway and Poland
Top for R&D investment
Latest data from the Ernst & Young European Investment Monitor reveals that Scotland:
- Secured 33 percent of all R&D projects into UK, up 19 percent from previous year
- Acquired 25 percent of all European R&D projects to the UK
- Acquired 39 percent of US R&D projects into the UK
- Is the UK's top region for R&D investment – a position Scotland has held for four out of last five years
- Acquired close to 5 percent of all R&D projects into Europe, up from just over 4 percent in the previous year
Anne MacColl said: "These figures are very encouraging and underline the importance of continuing to focus on attracting high value jobs, based on Scotland's strong R&D capabilities and sector strengths which will become embedded in Scotland's economy in the long term.
"The figures also show that Scotland continues to perform strongly in terms of being an attractive business environment that is conducive to the research and development of major international projects. Recent successes including Gamesa and Toshiba, as well as Avaloq, further highlight Scotland's growing reputation as a global partner of choice."
Ernst & Young produce a number of inward investment-related reports in the fields of attractiveness, competitiveness and trends impacting on economic development.
Download the Ernst & Young UK 2012 attractiveness survey (PDF, 5MB)
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