The Alliance is the unique collaboration of Scotland's seven cities and the Scottish Government working together to promote the country's great economic potential around the world.
Its work has helped to bring in more than £125million to the Scottish economy to date and with a wide range of additional investments worth billions of pounds showcased in the new Investment Prospectus, there are even greater opportunities to attract further investment into our cities to ensure their continued economic success.
The latest EY Scotland Attractiveness Survey found that Scotland is second only to London as the most popular part of the UK to invest in, something the Alliance continues to support working with partners in both the public and private sector.
This event, at the new V&A Dundee, sponsored by Robertson, one of the largest independently owned construction, infrastructure and support services groups in the UK, is designed to show the range and scale of what cities have to offer investors, intermediaries and other leading decision makers.
Councillor John Alexander, Chair of the Scottish Cities Alliance, said: "I am delighted to launch our biggest and best Investment Prospectus to date, featuring billions of pounds of potential investments across our seven cities.
"The propositions featured in the new Investment Prospectus offer investors many opportunities in a broad range of sectors to work with our vibrant and modern cities.
"By working together, Scotland's cities are being showcased on a global stage, highlighting the fact that we have world-class resources such as one of the most highly educated workforces in Europe, competitive tax policies, a reputation for innovation and a strong international brand.
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"It is testament to the work of the Alliance that we are working closely with the private sector, as evidenced by the event with Robertson today.
"As Chair of the Alliance I look forward to building on the successful projects that the Alliance has already helped to deliver in Scotland and by working with all partners we can attract further significant investments from around the world to help deliver a strong future economy for a more prosperous Scotland."
Director for Strategic Public Partnerships at Robertson and speaker at the event, Jonathan Guthrie, said: "Investment in cities is essential for the development of the economy and our communities. Working in hospitality, food & drink and education to residential, healthcare and commercial offices, Robertson works extensively with the Scottish Cities Alliance and its stakeholders and is committed to delivering excellence for our clients and partners."
Alliance supporters Arup also feature at the event with Associate Director Ian Lumsden speaking about the design firm's work in cities.
As well as the investment promotion work, the Alliance runs the Smart Cities Scotland programme, which has seen more than £24million invested in the seven cities' smart ambitions, with £10million of that total coming from European funding. This work is creating a network of Smart Cities across Scotland which will use information, or data, gathered from technology, to improve services, create new opportunities for business and enhance the quality of life for everyone in our data-driven economy. Intelligent street lighting, smart mobility, smart waste and open data platforms are just some of the projects which are taking shape as a result of the programme.
Through its collaborative approach the Alliance has also made huge strides for Scotland within the hydrogen sector and is working with the EU Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU) for the commercialisation of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure and fuel cell buses across Europe. Aberdeen and Dundee are partners along with a further 40 cities across Europe which bring together the most ambitious projects to-date. Having successfully secured EU funding, Aberdeen will deploy a further 10 fuel cell buses and Dundee, 12.
This work has positioned Scotland as one of Europe's leading early adopters of hydrogen technology which will help to attract investment into sectors such as manufacturing, engineering and encourage the commercialisation of hydrogen technologies over the coming years. As well as the economic benefits such as energy security, zero emission hydrogen fuel buses also contribute to the achievement of Scotland's challenging climate change targets, as well as improving local air quality in our cities.
Further projects of scale within this sector are being scoped to ensure that Scotland continues to be at the forefront of this dynamic technology and supply chain development is a very important part of this scoping.
Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Michael Matheson, said: "I am delighted to support the work of our cities in creating a wide range of investment opportunities. By working collaboratively through the Alliance, our seven cities have demonstrated over the past year they can be highly successful in attracting international investors to Scotland.
"The new Alliance Investment Prospectus can only raise Scotland's profile and build on that success, demonstrating once again the great investment potential Scotland's cities can offer and their drive to succeed."
