Foreword
"It is with great pleasure that we have provided this joint foreword to the proceedings of this year's Business in the Parliament Conference. These conferences are now considered to be one of the flagship events in the calendar for both politicians and business people. They differ, however, in one crucial respect from many of the other conferences and seminars that take place through the year. The Business in Parliament Conference is jointly organised by both the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament and also enjoys the strong support of our partners amongst the business organisations and trades unions. Held in the Scottish Parliament building, it is truly, as was the intention, a "gathering place" and "a place of shared conversations, not sterile conversations" between Scotland's business leaders and practitioners, government ministers and parliamentarians.
This sense of dialogue, often robust but nonetheless welcome, is critical if we as policy-makers and legislators are to understand the needs and views of our wealth creators and vice versa. The opportunity to discuss plans and priorities is vital to achieving our shared goal of growing our economy.
Both the Scottish Executive and the Enterprise and Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament agreed as an outcome of the latter's inquiry into business growth that there needs to be a national consensus on growing Scotland's economy. Although we enter a period running up to the elections in May 2007 where there will be much debate on the issues of the day, we both share the view that government, Parliament, business and trade unions must continue to strive for a common understanding on the way forward. That is something which will require a mature debate and a meeting of minds. The very fact that we, albeit representing different political parties, can jointly organise this conference is testament to our recognition of the need to work together on the priorities for business.
We don't intend to comment at this stage on all of the points raised during the Business in the Parliament Conference. But it is important that politicians of all political persuasions as well officials in the Executive and its agencies look carefully at the views expressed by the business community and take them properly into account when considering their policies and priorities.
We are very grateful to all those that took part in this year's Conference and to the continued support of Scotland's business organisations and the Scottish Trades Union Congress. We also thank all of our keynote speakers for their involvement and the facilitators of this year's discussion groups for their assistance. We are particularly grateful for the collection of reports provided by the facilitators that can be found in these proceedings and it would be remiss of us if we didn't comment on some of the ideas they contain.
We are struck by the comments from Professor Russel Griggs that, in disseminating Scotland's vision for the future across the globe, we cannot rely on government or economic development agencies alone. Scotland's businesses and their staff are a vital resource in promoting Scotland worldwide.
We also agree with the observations in Professor Griggs' report that 98% of Scotland's companies employ fewer that 10 people and that it is the transition of these firms into larger, more profitable businesses that is critical to the growth of our economy. We must provide an environment for more of Scotland's smaller firms to grow into companies of scale, active and located in Scotland. Part of this must come from efforts to increase the levels of investment by companies in research, development and innovation.
This point is also highlighted in Liz Cameron's report which also noted that we need to continue to work to ensure that excellence within our Universities is fully exploited commercially if Scotland is to remain ahead of its competitors in this area. But, as her group noted, we also need to build on initiatives such as Determined to Succeed, if we are to nurture and encourage an innovative business-focussed attitude amongst our young people.
Both Niall Stuart's and Shonaig Macpherson's reports have highlighted the need both in government policy generally, and in the sustainable development agenda more specifically, to get both the principle and the detail right in our legislation and policies. We note the frustrations amongst some in the business community that the principle behind our efforts is often sound but the detail needs to be implemented sensitively and timeously. We agree, and plan to look carefully at the points raised in this year's conference on procurement, getting the planning system right, on measures to support R&D and the regulatory environment.
Grahame Smith's report rightly emphasises the importance of providing the workforce of the future with the right mix of skills and attitudes, especially a spirit of entrepreneurship, to succeed. But he also stresses the clear need to remain committed to investing in improving the skills of our existing workforce if we are going to maintain and improve our competitive position.
We also share many of the views expressed in Iain Macmillan's report in relation to the critical importance of the need to develop Scotland's infrastructure and improve the connectivity of air, road and rail. In recent weeks government has acted on concerns in relation to the Firth of Forth.
The group could not have put in better when he indicated that there is a political side to infrastructure which is about delivering on economic objectives. As the group observed, if everything becomes a priority it means nothing is a priority.
We share this view and would not restrict it to only infrastructure issues. Achieving an informed vision of our shared priorities for, and respective roles in, growing Scotland's economy is precisely why we have, and will continue to support, the Business in Parliament Conference."
