Jamie McGrigor, Highlands & Islands Conservative MSP, has questioned what the Scottish Government is doing to assist, to attract international business, those companies in Scotland which train offshore workers.
Jamie was speaking at Question Time in the Scottish Parliament yesterday during a question on opportunities for Scotland arising from its participation in the recent Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference.
The Minister for External Affairs, Humza Yousaf, who led Scotland’s delegation to the conference, said that Scottish Development International was working to connect Scottish companies with those in the Middle East, and that the Scottish Government took “extraordinarily seriously” opportunities for the delivery of training, by vocational academies in Scotland, to "companies from the Middle East which have a huge investment in the North Sea".
Speaking today, Jamie said:
“Scotland has some world-class offshore training companies, including a number based in my region of the Highlands & Islands, and I want to see as much done as possible to assist them in continuing to attract international business.
“I welcome the fact that some our excellent education institutions also attended the Abu Dhabi conference, and the Minister is correct to say that we have some expert training that is not available anywhere else; we want to retain and build on this expertise and attract more international clients.
“The Minister mentioned the Nigg Skills Academy in my region, and I commend all those involved in the Academy, which is innovative and very important to our energy sector”.