Scottish food producers and growers would benefit from the development of a national brand to help grow export markets, a new report has said.
This brand should be created through a collaboration between government and business, the report said, and could help individual businesses expand internationally by providing a foundation on which they can build their own brand.
The findings, compiled by think tank N-65, which has links with the Scottish National Party, said that export growth should be more prominent in Scotland’s economic strategy.
It said other small country case studies, including New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, demonstrate the value in creating a national brand backed by a “coherent policy approach”, to help drive exports.
The report also said that expanding Scottish exports would depend on maintaining access to global markets, with continued membership of the European Union providing the easiest way of doing so.
Better air and rail infrastructure is also key to exports growth, as well as investment into R&D and education to help boost productivity growth.
It highlighted the food and drinks sector in particular as having exports growth potential, and said the Year of Food and Drink 2015 in Scotland is a good example of an initiative that is targeting further export growth.
'A renewed focus on increasing exports will allow Scotland to close the trade gap with other wealthy economies, boosting productivity and achieving their economic growth rates,” said Graeme Blackett, of economic consultancy BiGGAR Economics, which compiled the report, told the BBC.
'The lesson from prominent trading economies shows that initiatives such as the development of a realistic and authentic national brand can play an important role.'
