North and South
Scottish Ports Group welcomes Holyrood’s establishment of ‘Greenports’ — an adaptation of Westminster’s ‘Freeports’ concept.
By Marc Allen, Maritime Direct UK.
Ivan McKee MSP, Scotland’s Minister for International Trade, Innovation and Public Finance has delivered a statement at Holyrood today, in response to the Westminster government’s proposal of Freeports.
The announcement follows a survey of the maritime sector by the Scottish Government on the role of place-based economic zones north of the border. After reviewing the findings, Holyrood has decided to adapt the UK government’s Freeport mechanism to better target Scottish objectives — calling the concept ‘Greenports‘.
Greenports will work on a similar principle to Freeports, but will put added emphasis on achieving net-zero, fair-work criteria and ensuring payment of the living wage, a move which is supported by the Scottish Ports Group.
Commenting, Stuart Cresswell of the Scottish Ports Group, said: “The Scottish Ports Group has welcomed the Government’s announcement today that they will be adapting the UK Government’s Freeports offer to establish ‘Greenports’ in Scotland. Significant questions remain, notably regarding the number of sites that will be established as Greenports and the specific mechanisms that will be included here; which we look forward to receiving more detail on shortly…”
The British Ports Association says it encourages the Scottish Government to avoid “significant divergence” from the UK Freeport mechanism, but welcomes the early news of the proposal.
