Foreign investment in Scotland reached a 15-year high last year, according to a survey.
A total of 76 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects were secured in 2012, the largest number since 1997 and 49% more than in 2011.
There is “no sign of investors being deterred from coming to Scotland” because of the possibility of independence, according to professional services firm Ernst & Young which compiled the survey.
It said that “if anything, the reverse appears to be true”.
Ernst & Young’s annual “attractiveness” survey looks at the appeal offered by different parts of the UK to foreign investors. It found that the number of direct foreign investments across the UK increased 3% between 2011 and 2012.
While London “remained the clear leader among the UK regions in securing FDI projects in 2012, Scotland attracted the next largest number, as it did in 2010”.
Jim Bishop, an Ernst & Young senior partner in Scotland, said the figures “demonstrate that Scotland continues to punch above its weight in an increasingly competitive global market”.
