The Scottish Government has appointed two new trade and investment envoys to promote Scotland’s business interests to American markets.
Suneil Mishra and Andy MacMillan will also support export interests more generally through trade-related visits and events, such as Tartan Week and Startup Grind.
Mishra is president of Mishra Consulting and has worked in emerging technologies for more than 25 years as an investor, consultant and entrepreneur.
Macmillan is the chief executive at UserTesting and an experienced software company executive.
The California-based appointments follow the recent announcement of the first US trade and investment envoy Stephen Leonard, and two London-based envoys, Garry Bernstein and Paul Taylor.
Trade Minister Ivan McKee said: “Our growth export plan committed to expanding the volunteer envoy network to up to 12, and it’s great to have Suneil and Andy on board, taking our numbers up to 11.
“The network has already had great success in opening doors, and identifying strategic opportunities to support our export, capital investment and foreign direct investment efforts.
“Our US-based envoys can provide further insights, intelligence, introductions and advocacy focused on building trade, as well as inward and capital investor relations, with a particular focus on high growth markets in technology.”
Mishra said: “Andy and I are excited to raise the profile of Scotland in the most technologically advanced and largest economy in the world.
“We will not only be promoting Scotland as a source for innovative solutions in this competitive market but also as a destination for expanding the global footprint of US companies.”
The US is Scotland’s top international export market, accounting for 17% of total exports, and remains Scotland’s number one inward investor.
There are 660 US-owned companies in Scotland, employing 112,740 people, with a turnover of £31bn.
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