LAST week I described the first three of ten outcomes that Glasgow Chamber’s governing council had agreed following the launch of the Scottish Government’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

Their intention was to make clear what success would look like for Glasgow if national and local strategies were fully delivered, given comments by Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, that the government should be judged on delivery rather than strategy plans.

Last week’s column outlined the importance of post-pandemic recovery for Glasgow city centre, Glasgow Airport, and the Scottish Events Campus. Here are the remaining seven.

First is Glasgow’s re-emergence as a centre for scientific discovery and technological innovation, which was boosted by the UK Government’s designation of the city as an Innovation Accelerator under the Levelling Up White Paper.

Research strengths in advanced manufacturing, space, photonics, nanofabrication and quantum technologies, in precision medicine, fintech and renewables, are opportunities that can help shape the city’s economic future.

Glasgow has three innovation districts at varying stages of development; we can measure their success by the emergence of clusters of new tech companies and growth in investment by business in R&D. Effective delivery of those districts will be as important to the city’s future jobs as the International Financial Services District was for the previous 20 years.

There are two more traditional sectors. One is the recovery of overseas tourism using the successful delivery of the first UCI World Cycling Championships in 2023 as a milestone. This is a new gathering of cycling disciplines under one championship banner. Glasgow has the experience to make it work.

The other is the marine industry including shipbuilding, ship repair, Glasgow’s substantial shipping industry and its excellent record in marine education. With the support of the Scottish Government’s Clyde Mission, Clyde Maritime is an industry-led initiative to help shipbuilding and ship repair grow. Overcoming industry skills shortages will be the initial task.

Clyde Maritime is a tangible project for bringing more life back to the River Clyde and so, too, is the fourth deliverable, the Clyde Green Freeport bid (submitted in June), offering tax advantages to commercial and industrial activity along the riverfront.

The fifth outcome is a fresh regional skills campaign responding to the skills shortages across other sectors as diverse as engineering, transport and hospitality, and with emphasis on the flexible role of the colleges in helping bring more Glaswegians out of the poverty of economic inactivity and into the city’s plentiful job opportunities. This is a rare moment in Glasgow’s recent economic history.

The sixth outcome is one of the most stretching and most crucial. Glasgow has to build on its role in COP 26 by achieving net zero by 2030 and the Chamber sits right behind the City Council’s Green Investment Prospectus. It has an extensive set of projects including the retrofitting of domestic heating systems and radical improvements in the public transport network. Many of the projects need private capital to make them happen.

The final deliverable is the Clyde Metro, which is included in the Scottish Government’s priorities for transport investment. It’s essential if we’re to encourage a permanent shift from private vehicles and on to public transport. It will also finally deliver on a long-term goal by creating a rail connection between the airport and the city centre.

Delivering all of these in the context of tight public finances is no easy task and reinforces the importance of getting the private sector wholly involved.

The Chamber is committed to supporting each of these outcomes and as quickly as possible.