CONTINUING UK membership of the European Union is crucial to Scotland’s economic growth, the president of the Confederation of British Industry will tell a dinner in Glasgow tonight.

Paul Drechsler, making his first speech north of the Border since taking over as CBI president from Sir Mike Rake in July, is also expected to highlight Scotland’s “already considerable success” in exporting globally and attracting investment.

He will declare that, to grow, Scotland should build on this success.

Mr Drechsler will say that, according to former UK trade minister Brian Wilson’s ‘Review of Support for Scottish Exporting’, “it is reasonable to estimate that more than 336,000 jobs in Scotland are directly or indirectly dependent on trade with EU countries”.

According to an advance text of Mr Drechsler’s speech, the CBI president will highlight the fact that this figure represents more than 12 per cent of the total number of employed people in Scotland.

And he will tell an audience of about 570 people at the CBI Scotland annual dinner in Glasgow: “This is just one reason why – whilst there’s no uniform view - the majority of firms want the UK to stay in a reformed European Union. And most firms believe that the disadvantages of UK membership are significantly outweighed by the benefits.”

He will say: “The EU’s single market lets business go beyond a market of five million Scots, or 64 million Brits, to reach more than 500 million potential customers.”

Mr Drechsler will add: “Of course, the EU is far from perfect…The EU needs to do more of what it’s good at, and less of what it’s bad at. We believe that creating jobs should be at the very heart of what Europe is all about.

“Expanding the single market in services and signing trade deals should be top of the EU’s ‘to do’ list, and could mean more sales for firms and more jobs for people here in Scotland.”

Mr Drechsler will also say that the “two key ingredients” for the long-term health and success of the Scottish economy are education and skills.

Highlighting Scotland’s success on the international stage, he will tell his audience: “Last year, Scotland attracted more than 80 inward investment projects to its shores, cementing its reputation as a great place to do business. And Scotland is seizing export opportunities in markets old and new.

“The Scottish Salmon Company is now delivering Scotland’s number one food export to over 20 countries, including the USA, China and Japan.

“Taiwan is now the number one export market for whisky producer BenRiach’s single malts.”