Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-02382

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement of the Scottish Growth Scheme, what proportion of the total funding it expects will be (a) loans and (b) guarantees.

Question reference: S5W-02379

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement of the Scottish Growth Scheme, which body will judge if an applicant company has a clear export growth plan.

Question reference: S5W-02384

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement of the Scottish Growth Scheme, which emerging markets it will prioritise in awarding loans and guarantees to applicant companies.

Question reference: S5F-00243

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2016

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

Question reference: S5F-00205

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2016

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

Question reference: S5W-01415

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00024 by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016, whether it has now undertaken full due diligence as a precaution or whether this will only occur once legal, contractual or funding obligations or commitments on its behalf are agreed.

Question reference: S5W-01416

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00028 by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016, whether it will provide the answer to the question that was asked.

Question reference: S5W-01412

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the activities of China Railway No.3 Engineering Group since it became aware of allegations of human rights abuses and the risk of gross corruption; what this assessment involved; whether (a) ministers or (b) officials have discussed these allegations with (i) the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global or (ii) Amnesty International; what the assessment concluded, and whether it now considers that it would be appropriate to agree investment with this company.

The memorandum of understanding between the Scottish Government, China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone is focused on developing a relationship to explore possible investment in Scotland. It signals that Scotland is open for business and investment in line with the guiding principles of the Scottish Government's ‘Working with China’ Strategy. This Strategy has four guiding principles that underpin all of Scotland’s dealings with China and against which success will be measured. One of those principles is Respect for Human Rights and the Rule of Law - supporting China’s process of modernisation and internal reform and the need to balance the demands of economic development with social justice. Scotland is justly proud of its reputation for ethical business practices, and knows that human rights and the rule of law are key to long-term economic success and social stability. We will continue to share our experiences and values in our dealings with China.China Railway No.3 Engineering Group is one of 46 subsidiaries of the China Railway Group. The allegations of human rights abuses made in the June 2013 Amnesty International report were against the Congo International Mining Corporation (CIMCO), a subsidiary of China Railway Group, and relate to activity by CIMCO and CRG in August 2011 and April 2012. The allegations of gross corruption in the December 2014 report by the Council on Ethics for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global relate to the China Railway Group. There is no reference to China Railway No.3 Engineering Group in the report.Scottish Government officials have considered publicly available information regarding the actions taken by the Chinese Government to tackle corruption; key sources of information on corruption and human rights abuses; and other publicly available information, including company databases, on the activities of China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group.Following this consideration, the Scottish Government notes that:(i) The UK Government’s May 2016 advice to businesses on key risks they may face when operating in China states that:

"China is currently listed as a country of concern in the FCO’s annual Human Rights and Democracy Report… Since coming to power in China, President Xi Jinping has launched a wide-ranging anti-corruption drive. China has enacted extensive anti-bribery legislation”.

(ii) The World Bank specifies firms and individuals who are ineligible to be awarded a World Bank-financed contract for set periods because they have been sanctioned under the Bank's fraud and corruption policy either as a result of specific examination by the bank or because other development banks (Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank, and African Development Bank) have sanctioned them. China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group is not ineligible for World Bank financed contracts.

(iii) Publicly available information, including the websites and associated reports of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Human Rights Watch, and Transparency International, provides no evident reference to allegations of corruption or human rights abuses by China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group.

The Scottish Government welcomes and values Amnesty International’s role and expertise in promoting and protecting human rights. Officials considered Amnesty International’s June 2013 report, ‘Profits and Loss: Mining and Human Rights in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo” which was sent to the Scottish Government by Amnesty International on 19 May. The First Minister replied to Amnesty International on 12 June. A copy of that letter has been placed in SPICe (Bib No. 58118).

There have been no discussions between Ministers and the Norwegian Government Pension Fund. E-mail correspondence between Scottish Government officials and Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the Bank now responsible for managing the Investment Fund, and the Norwegian Ministry of Finance confirms the findings of the Council on Ethics’ December 2014 report and that at the start of 2015 changes were made to the role of the Ethics Council and to how and by whom the Investment Fund is managed.

Question reference: S5W-01413

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00019 by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016, whether it will answer the question that was asked regarding whether (a) China Railway No.3 Engineering Group or (b) SinoFortone (i) has previously or (ii) will in future receive privileged access to information not already publicly available and, if so, what access.

Neither company has had access to privileged Scottish Government information. Any information provided by other parties which SinoFortone and/or China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group have had discussion with is a matter for them.China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group and SinoFortone will receive the same access to information as any potential significant investor in Scotland. Some of that information is available publicly. Other information is provided to help and encourage investors to invest in Scotland to create jobs and economic growth.

Question reference: S5W-01411

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates since 5 May 2016 (a) its officials, (b) the First Minister and (c) other ministers have held discussions with (i) China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group, (ii) SinoFortone and (iii) any other organisation that could potentially be involved in activities further to the signing of the memorandum of understanding with these companies on 21 March 2016; what was discussed, and whether it will place a copy of the minutes in SPICe.

There have been no discussions between the First Minister or other Ministers and China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group or SinoFortone since 5 May 2016.At his request, Scottish Government officials participated in a short teleconference with the Chair of the Asia Scotland Institute, Roddy Gow, and Sir Richard Heygate of SinoFortone on 30 June. SinoFortone highlighted their conversations with third parties about potential investment opportunities. No other issues were discussed and a minute of the teleconference was not taken.Officials met with the Chair of the Asia Scotland Institute on 29 July. The Memorandum of Understanding was discussed along with a range of issues relating to Scotland’s relationship with Asia. A note of the meeting has been placed in SPICe (Bib No. 58117).

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