Sturgeon intends to keep Scotland at 'very heart' of Europe
The Brexit vote makes efforts to boost Scotland's economy "even more important", the leader of the SNP is expected to say.
Saturday 15 October 2016 16:06, UK
Nicola Sturgeon will say Scotland intends to remain at the "very heart" of Europe as she unveils a four-point plan aimed at increasing trade and exports in the wake of the Brexit vote.
The SNP leader will make clear that "Scotland is open for business" and say the Brexit vote makes efforts to boost Scotland's economy "even more important".
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The First Minister is expected to say during her closing speech to the SNP conference: "Make no mistake, the growth of our economy right now is threatened not just by the prospect of losing our place in the single market - disastrous though that would be.
"It is also the deeply damaging - and utterly shameful - message that the Tories' rhetoric about foreign workers is sending and the uncertainty that message brings to our public services and Scottish employers.
"More than ever, we need to tell our European friends that Scotland is open for business."
Her four-point plan will see the Scottish Government set up a new Board of Trade, the recruitment of trade envoys to represent the country, establishing an investment hub in Berlin, and the number of Scottish Development International staff working across Europe will double.
Ms Sturgeon will also highlight the "stark" choice facing the country, between being governed by the "hard right" Tories at Westminster or the SNP in Edinburgh.
She will say: "We are in a completely new era. A new political era and a new battle of ideas.
"A new era for our Parliament, with new powers and responsibilities. And a new era for our relationship with Europe and the wider world.
"There are challenges aplenty. And as the world around us changes, we must ensure that Scotland remains the progressive, internationalist, communitarian country that the majority of us living here want it be."
While the UK as a whole voted to leave the EU in June, almost two thirds (62%) of Scots taking part in the referendum opted to remain.