Salmond urges Americans 'Go East'

Mr Salmond was speaking at Harvard University in Massachusetts

First Minister Alex Salmond has urged US business bosses to "go east" to Scotland for their investment plans.

Instead of the traditional "Go west" advice offered to ambitious Americans, he said Scotland was ideally placed for US firms expanding into Europe.

Mr Salmond also highlighted a cut in business rate bills for small firms, due to come into effect on Tuesday.

He was speaking to an audience at Harvard University in Massachusetts as part of Scotland Week.

Different direction

It was the first of three big speeches he plans to deliver this week in the US.

Mr Salmond said: "The legendary Horace Greeley urged a generation of Americans to 'Go west, young man'."

"Nearly 200 years later, the time is right for American business to focus their investment in a different direction."

He said: "Invest in the economies of the future, where the prospects are brightest. "And make that investment in Scotland, which I believe has one of the brightest prospects across all Europe."

Mr Salmond said his administration wanted to turn Scotland into "a new economic powerhouse" and the business rates cut was part of that drive.

He said Ireland, Iceland and Norway were all in an "arc of prosperity" around Scotland, and strategies were in place for Scotland to at least match their growth rate within 10 years.