Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has deployed the UK’s Ambassador to Japan, Julia Longbottom, on a four-day tour of Scotland to build connections with businesses and boost investment and trade with Japan.
Longbottom will be hitting the road as part of the ‘domestic roadshow’ launched earlier this year, in which Ambassadors and High Commissioners are being dispatched by the Foreign Secretary around the country to meet with businesses in order to support them to expand into key growth-driving markets.
This week’s visit will build on an already thriving trading relationship with Japan, which is worth over £30 billion and supports thousands of jobs across Scotland.
Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Seema Malhotra, said:
“Our Ambassadors and High Commissioners are playing a crucial role in ensuring that every part of the UK benefits from global opportunities—bringing international investment into our towns and cities and helping local economies thrive.
“This Roadshow visit marks an important step in strengthening our trade and investment ties with Japan. It’s about creating good jobs, supporting local businesses, and delivering real opportunities for communities across the country including in Scotland.”
Ambassador Longbottom kicks off her week-long tour of Scotland on Monday [20 October] at the Port of Nigg, on the Cromarty Firth, which is one of Scotland’s two Green Freeports. She will meet Sumitomo Electric, whose £350 million subsea cable factory will create 150 jobs and strengthen the UK’s renewable energy supply chain, and with Mitsui, the Tokyo-based site owner and recent investor.
In Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone, she will witness Scotland’s offshore wind and hydrogen expertise and discuss new Japanese investment opportunities in Scottish renewables infrastructure.
On Tuesday, Ambassador Longbottom will visit Arbikie Distillery near Dundee to discuss strategies to grow exports to Japan, where demand for Scotch whisky reached £170 million in 2023. Her visit to the city’s 4J Studios will centre on unlocking opportunities for Scottish video game developers in Japan’s £15 billion gaming market, the third largest globally. 4J is best known for developing the world-famous Minecraft Console Edition.
She will also visit the UK’s £750million national supercomputer site at University of Edinburgh and the National Robotarium – a ground-breaking robotics and AI research hub supported with £300m funding from the UK Government and £300m funding from the Scottish Government.
Ambassador Longbottom said:
“It’s exciting to be in Scotland – developing the relationships that will supercharge growth in every corner of the UK.
“The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy and Trade Strategy are making Britain the best country to do business with – and that is the message I’m giving, loud and clear, to businesses in Japan.
“Japanese companies are choosing to invest and create jobs in the UK because of our skilled workforce, our world-class innovation, and our deep, trusted partnership with Japan. Scotland has all of these, and it’s my job to put Scotland on the map in Japan.
“That’s why I’m in Scotland this week – exploring new opportunities both for local companies seeking to export to Japan and to explore how Japanese companies can invest and create more jobs and growth here.”
Over a dozen visits have taken place to date across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, helping to build international connections for local businesses.
Background
In Case You Missed It:
· Japan is now the UK’s 14th largest trading partner. Ambassador Longbottom will use this week’s roadshow visit to build on figures which show total trade between UK and Japan is over £30.6 billion – with many companies across Scotland benefiting.
· In 2024 total goods exports from Scotland to Japan were worth £484 million. Scotland’s top export to Japan was beverages, including whisky, with sales worth £158 million – 32.5% of all goods exported.
· In 2024 there were 120 Japanese owned businesses in Scotland, operating 265 local business units, and employing 8,980 workers.
