In his first Scottish Business Address to the Scottish business community, Stephen Leckie, president of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said that growth, competitiveness and a global outlook are essential ingredients for Scotland’s success.
“We have seen how business and governments have rallied together throughout the pandemic and this serves as a blueprint for future collaboration between private and public sector.
“In an increasingly polarised world, we must build on this platform as a mechanism to inform and influence joint policy-making and impacts.
“Governments cannot drive growth or create value alone, nor can businesses - our message to all governments is to view business as partners; invest in us, work with us and support us.”
Addressing the event, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “There is no doubt that their expertise helps to grow local economies, provide local employment, and be a key source of advice and support to businesses, particularly through the hard times of the pandemic and current cost crisis.
“We know that a successful business sector is essential to our aspirations for our fairer, greener and more resilient country – and the Scottish Government will continue doing everything we can to support that sector.
“We will continue to call on the Treasury to provide more effective support during the current cost crisis, and we will get on with delivering our National Strategy for Economic Transformation.
“The Scottish Government remains committed to listening to and working with businesses and business organisations across the country - we value their expertise, and we understand how committed they are - not just to their own businesses, but to the communities that they are part of,” she added.
On the cost crisis, Leckie said that businesses have been experiencing huge increases in input costs and the SCC's request to government is that businesses cannot be ambitious without intervention.
“The cost-of-living crisis will take many lives and even more livelihoods and it calls for leadership and long-term thinking – the consequences of getting policy choices wrong now could resonate for years.”
Coming back to the private and public sector collaboration point, he commented: “We compete for talent and customers, for trade and market access and compete for the game changing policy ideas – these are the defining challenges for this generation of business leaders.
“We have two fundamentals of a successful economy at our fingertips – an entrepreneurial private sector that creates value and jobs, and second, a pro enterprise policy framework that encourages and nurtures entrepreneurship.
“Work these two together with Scottish and UK Government and we can compete globally and can come out winning.”
Leckie concluded: “I urge the First Minister and Prime Minister to forge an economic coalition with the business community and place the economy, business and jobs to the top of the political agenda.
“We want more investment in Scotland, we want more businesses to be here, and for people to be attracted to come and live here.”
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