A new report by property consultancy giant DTZ has found that foreign direct investment (FDI) is worth about £41 billion to the Scottish economy and accounts for more than half of all economic growth in Scotland. The report also says that foreign employers are responsible for about one in seven Scottish jobs.
The report, which puts paid to any perception that Scotland is struggling to attract FDI, suggests that the share of overseas cash in the Scottish economy is more than double that of New York City and nearly on a par with the famously cosmopolitan UK capital.
The report says that Scotland has been successful in recent years, particularly in Glasgow, in attracting and developing high-value projects whose productivity is more than double that of domestic companies.
From a survey of more than 200 areas across the UK, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen appear in the top 10 for hosting the largest number of operations with strategic, organisational planning or decision-making roles covering the rest of the company. The top three Scottish cities are pipped only by areas in London and the southeast of England and are well ahead of city regions such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Bristol.
Richard Marsh, associate director of consulting and research at DTZ in Edinburgh, said: "Over half the growth in the Scottish economy is down to foreign-owned business and the worth of that to growing Scotland's economy needs to be recognised.
"The Scottish government has done well with schemes such as Fresh Talent to tap into the global talent pool, and raising awareness of the attractions of our standard of living.
"If we look more closely at the sources of foreign investment, it prompts more questions about what we in Scotland are doing about attracting sovereign wealth funds. We should be thinking of attracting these funds to invest in Scotland.
"If you look at London, it remains marginally ahead of Scotland, but the flow of FDI here has been good and is expanding, through such routes as the financial services district in Glasgow, the West Edinburgh Planning Framework and the city of Aberdeen."
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