Talks on Singapore investment into Grangemouth – Daily Business

Potential investment into Grangemouth from Singapore has emerged from talks held in Edinburgh with the UK’s high commissioner to the south-east Asian country.

As a parting shot ahead of yesterday’s reshuffle, outgoing Foreign Secretary, David Lammy and Scottish Secretary Ian Murray were behind a visit to Edinburgh by Nik Mehta to discuss a number of opportunities.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said the talks with ministers and Scottish Enterprise included “potential new investment into the Grangemouth industrial complex, as part of the Project Willow feasibility study, jointly funded by the UK and Scottish governments, to explore low-carbon alternative uses for the wider site to support new jobs.”

The Grangemouth oil refinery closed earlier this year with the loss of 400 jobs. The UK Government has pledged £200 million, with further assistance from the Scottish Government, to support private investment into the site.

Mr Mehta met Mr Murray in one of the Edinburgh MP’s final duties as Scottish Secretary. They were joined by Richard Lochhead, the Scottish government business minister who is due to leave his post next summer.

The now ex-Scottish Secretary launched a ‘Brand Scotland’ initiative – awarding grants of up to £20,000 to FCDO posts around the world to support innovative and creative ideas to market Scotland internationally and encourage inward investment.

The commissioner also met Edinburgh-based satellite mapping specialist Space Intelligence to discuss its recent expansion into Singapore as part of its growth across southeast Asia.

This week’s roadshow was instigated by Mr Lammy who dispatched diplomats from ten countries to all parts of the UK to boost regional ties and deliver economic growth.

Mr Mehta said: “I’m so pleased to be visiting Scotland as part of this first-of-its-kind roadshow – going the extra mile to develop relationships that will help us supercharge growth to every corner of the UK.

“My visit to Edinburgh is an opportunity to engage with businesses looking to expand into the southeast Asia region and to understand where Singaporean investment could help make a difference to Scotland’s economy.

“I’m looking forward to meeting a range of climate tech and health tech companies, who will be traveling out for Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH) in October as part of the Techscaler initiative, and to celebrating the strong links between Scottish and Singaporean universities.”

Mr Murray said the visit was “another major step forward for Brand Scotland” that built on the momentum from a productive meeting in Singapore last year when he launched the campaign.

“Brand Scotland is a fantastic opportunity to promote all that is great about Scotland around the world,” said Mr Murray, who is replaced at the Scotland Office by Douglas Alexander following Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet changes.

Mr Lammy, who has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, said: “Scotland has a strong connection to Singapore but there’s so much more we can do to boost trade and investment.”

Singapore is the UK’s 21^st largest trading partner and a key export destination for Scottish goods. Total trade between UK and Singapore was £22.7 billion in 2024.

In 2024, businesses in Scotland exported goods worth £700 million to Singapore, representing 11.8% of the UK’s total goods exports to Singapore.  Key sectors are food and drink, technology and digital, and advanced manufacturing.

Singapore is ranked as the 3rd largest export market for Scotch whisky globally with exports worth £310m in 2024.  Singapore acts as a strategic regional distribution hub for the Asia-Pacific region and the vast majority of Scotch Whisky entering Singapore is re-exported to other markets in the region.

There are 60 Singapore-owned companies operating in Scotland, employing 2,290 people and generating a turnover of £364 million.

Six Scottish Universities have partnership or campus collaborations with Singapore education institutions and around 685 Singaporean students study in Scotland.