This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Economic development framework
06/11/2003
The Executive is to revisit and refresh the Framework
for Economic Development in Scotland (FEDS), it was
announced today.
Scottish Ministers believe that the principles of FEDS
remain the right ones for economic development in Scotland,
and that there is no need to re-write or re-invent any of
its fundamental principles.
However, it is recognised that both the domestic and
international economic and policy contexts have moved on in
the period since it was published in 2000. It is therefore
intended to revisit and, if necessary, refine the Framework
to reflect such changes and bring the analysis that
supports these principles up to date.
Enterprise Minister Jim Wallace said:
"Economic growth is the Executive's top priority. Our
long term approach to economic development is defined by
'The Way Forward: Framework for Economic Development in
Scotland', published in June 2000. FEDS identified a
sustainable improvement in productivity as the key to
stimulating competitiveness and growth. It identified
within this a number of priority areas for action: the
basic education system; the transport and electronic
infrastructure; enterprise support; and regional, social
and environmental objectives across Scotland.
"In this regard, The Framework linked, for the first
time in Scotland, economic development with activity across
a range of policy areas. FEDS therefore defines an
important part of the context for a range of the
Executive's detailed strategies such as The National
Priorities in Education, which sets out the vision for
school education in Scotland, Building Better Transport,
our vision for the future of transport in Scotland, and
Smart Successful Scotland - the Executive's strategy for
the Enterprise Networks.
"FEDS was written to be a long term strategy, robust in
the face of changes to the economic environment and
external shocks. It has the support of both the academic
and business communities and Scottish Ministers remain
strongly committed to FEDS. The principles of FEDS remain
the right ones for economic development in Scotland.
"It is now, however, three years since it was published
and it is right that we consider whether there is a need
for any refinement in order to reflect changes on both the
domestic and international economic scene."
The Way Forward: Framework for Economic Development in
Scotland can be downloaded from the Scottish Executive
internet site at
www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/economics/feds-00.asp
This 're-fresh exercise' is being approached by seeking
the views of anyone over the web. The discussion paper
should be seen as the basis for this and should be
consulted before approaching the Executive. PDF versions
can be downloaded from the Scottish Executive internet
site.
www.scotland.gov.uk/publications
Executive officials are also engaged in a series of
meetings with key stakeholders and industrial bodies to
ensure their views are represented. In addition, experts
in the field were brought together under the auspices of
the Scottish Economic Consultants Group. This has a
membership drawn from economists and academia, the banks,
the enterprise networks with other experts invited as
appropriate and is chaired by the Executive's Chief
Economic Advisor.