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Scottish businesses launch pro-EU campaign

Xinhua, April 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Scottish businesses launched a campaign targeting politicians to advocate Britain remaining in the European Union (EU), local media reported Thursday.

A series of policy asks is to be set out by the Scottish Business Voice Campaign, led by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce Network, whose members want to see the British central government and Scottish government implement them, the online Scotsman newspaper reported.

The campaign has published a list of measures which will enable more businesses to expand globally, insisting that remaining within the EU for Britain, including Scotland, ensures that businesses continue to benefit from the single European market.

The campaign calls for more readily available export finance and the immediate devolution and abolition of air passenger duty to ensure that the cost of air travel is reduced by 251 million pounds (371 U.S. dollars) per year.

It also wants "international languages of business" to be mandatory in the curriculum from primary one onwards and opportunities for overseas study to become mandatory for university degrees by 2020.

A world-class, global business-to-business network to support and develop Scotland's businesses should also be set up, the campaign states.

Scottish Chambers of Commerce director Liz Cameron called on many more businesses to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by international trade, if Scotland is to become a more dynamic, broadly-based and growing economy.

"This is the time for us, the Scottish business community, to take the lead and for the chamber network to utilize our unparalleled international business connections, tapping into the potential of new international markets and orders," Cameron was quoted as saying.

She called for increasing the number of Scottish businesses involved in exporting, both in goods and services, saying that "this is an area where we are lagging behind as a nation and which urgently needs to be addressed."

British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged that a referendum for Britain to stay in or leave the EU would be held by the end of 2017 if his conservative party wins Britain's general election on May 7, expressing confidence on being able to negotiate its association terms with the EU. Endit