Businesses in Aberdeen will tomorrow be asked to share their experiences of exporting goods and services to the rest of the world.
Members of Holyrood’s economy, energy and tourism committee is undertaking an inquiry into the barriers faced by some Scottish companies.
The investigation will also ask if the Scottish Government is likely to meet a target of increasing the value of exports by 50% by 2017.
Five members of the committee including north-east Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald and Aberdeenshire West SNP MSP Dennis Robertson are holding talks at the offices of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce in Bridge of Don.
Committee convener Murdo Fraser, a Conservative MSP, said: “Gathering the views of business and hearing directly from companies about the challenges faced when exporting is vital to this inquiry and determining what further support can be given.
“We are particularly interested in understanding the role of our publicly funded economic development agencies and identifying what else they can do to support companies to export or to share knowledge and expertise in overseas markets.”
The visit, organised by the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, will be an opportunity for businesses linked to the oil industry, to give their views on what more could be done to encourage businesses to export.
The organisation, which is UK Chamber of the Year, will also inform the committee on the role that they play in providing support to their members to export and engage in new overseas markets.