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Salmond lays out economic vision in the US Print E-mail
Friday, 12 October 2007

First Minister Alex Salmond outlined his ambitions for a "Celtic Lion" economy to emerge in Scotland as he addressed the Council on Foreign Relations in New York today. 

Salmond set out his vision to transform Scotland's historic economic underperformance and replicate the success of Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy.

He told the Council that Scotland was undergoing a reassessment of its future, and that there was a "determination to emerge from many years of economic underperformance and cultural timidity".

"Any conversation about Scotland's economic performance should begin with the acknowledgement that we live in a country with enormous assets – chief among them our people. We have a history and present reality of innovation, examples of educational excellence and individuals and companies succeeding in a competitive global market.

"It is against this backdrop that our trend growth rate is so disappointing. Over the last 25 years, the Scottish economy has grown at 1.8 per cent compared to the UK's own 2.3 per cent. The difference may sound small, but over that period it represents an opportunity cost to the Scottish economy of billions of pounds."

Salmond said his ambition was for Scotland to match the UK's growth performance by 2011, and then to surpass UK growth.

"Our nearest three neighbors – Norway, Iceland and Ireland – are respectively the first, second and fourth most prosperous countries in the world according to the UN Human Development Index. Ultimately, matching their growth rates, and the rates of other small EU nations, is paramount. It is these nations that are remarkably outperforming the UK."

"The cumulative effect of my government's proposed targets and policies is that Scotland will be among the most business-friendly countries in Europe and one of the most competitive in the world."

 

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