Asia Pacific interest in the Highlands and Islands at all time high

2nd February 2026

There's no doubt that investment from companies owned outside of Scotland is increasingly important in growing the economy of the Highlands and Islands.

Interest in the region is diverse and across many sectors. Space, health technology and life sciences all feature strongly. But renewable energy is definitely the dominant theme.

Our study showing £100bn of opportunities in our region has certainly attracted attention, even in seemingly far-flung places like Asia.

In recent years we've seen growing interest from the Asia-Pacific region, as well as significant investments confirmed by large investors from that part of the world. A good example is Japanese firm Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI), which is building a £350m cable-manufacturing factory at Nigg.

Against this backdrop, I accompanied Vicky Grant, our head of international trade and investment, on a trip to Asia-Pacific last week to further promote investment opportunities in our region. We travelled across three countries in six days by plane, high-speed train and car.

The trip was arranged by our colleagues in Scottish Development International (SDI) based in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing to strengthen relations with existing and potential investors.

Our first meeting was at the British Embassy Tokyo with Julia Longbottom CMG, UK Ambassador to Japan. She has been in office since 2021 and has been very supportive of SDI's presence in Japan.

We discussed her recent trip to Scotland, including a visit to Nigg and meetings with Sumitomo. The meeting was a great opportunity to acknowledge the Ambassador's support for Japanese investments into the renewable energy industry in the HIE area.

At the embassy we also met with Dr Stephen Baker OBE, Scottish Government trade and investment envoy to Japan. Stephen has played a leading role in shaping and delivering SDI's work across Asia Pacific.

Our next stop in Tokyo was a meeting with Mitsui and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL). They recently acquired Global Energy Group’s offshore business, which includes Port of Nigg, Global Energy (Fabrication) and Global Energy Service Holdings.

Mitsui and MOL have expressed commitment to the Port of Nigg, where they will have a pivotal role in strengthening Scotland’s offshore wind supply chain. We explored with them how we might work together to accelerate project delivery and maximise Nigg’s potential as a strategic hub for offshore wind.

On Monday afternoon we travelled to Osaka by the high-speed Shinkansen train - over 300 miles in just two hours 15 minutes! In Osaka we met members of the Sumitomo senior management, who gave us a tour of their factory on Tuesday morning and updated us on progress with their Nigg factory and future plans.

The facility will ensure Scotland has the infrastructure and manufacturing capacity to support growth in the offshore wind sector

Currently there are around a dozen staff from Scotland undertaking training for the start of production at Nigg in Autumn 2026. Although they were at another Sumitomo factory the advanced technology they will use was on show at Osaka.

On Tuesday afternoon we travelled to Seoul, South Korea as a guest of Colin Crooks, the UK’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. Together we met senior executives from Hyundai who have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and HIE to explore opportunities in floating offshore wind.

Scotland aims to be a world leader in this field and Hyundai, the world’s largest ship builder, is considering opportunities here.

On Wednesday morning we took a two-hour train journey for a factory tour with a family-owned Korean company that makes a key component for offshore windfarms. They have already visited sites in our region. We were able to discuss their project and how potentially to progress it in partnership with HIE.

On Thursday we had an early start from a very chilly -17C Seoul on a flight to Guangzhou in China. The Pearl River Delta is one of China’s fastest growing economic regions and the pace of development is breathtaking. New infrastructure investment was ever-present in our two-hour trip to visit the head office and R&D base of a potential Chinese investor.

Our visit ended on Friday afternoon when we returned to Guangzhou airport for a Saturday morning flight back to Inverness via Hong Kong and Heathrow.

The week packed in a lot and what was clear is that the level of interest in our region from the Asia-Pacific has never been higher. As well as encouraging repeat investment from our existing investors, it was very reassuring to know there are significant future opportunities for new projects.

We look forward to continuing our close working relationship with SDI to secure further investment into the Highlands and Islands and have every reason to be confident and optimistic about being able to do so.

PHOTO
(L-R: Dr Stephen Baker OBE, Trade & Investment Enjoy to Japan; Sayoko Tosaka, SDI; Vicky Grant, HIE; Stuart Black, HIE; Stefan Bengtsson, SDI. At the UK Embassy Tokyo.)

Stuart Black - Chief Executive

Stuart was appointed as HIE's Chief Executive in January 2022 having held the role of Interim Lead Area Manager previously.

Originally from Inverness, he is a graduate of the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, where he gained a doctorate in town and regional planning.

Stuart began his career with the University of Aberdeen, before joining HIE for the first time in 1996, as head of economics. Between then and 2008, he held several posts covering different parts of the organisation’s remit. These included local enterprise company chief executive, director of strengthening communities, and director of global connections.

From 2008 to 2020, he was a member of the senior team at the Highland Council, initially as director of planning and development, and later as executive chief officer for transformation and economy.