Nicola Sturgeon meets Apple CEO Tim Cook on California trip

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has met with one of the world's most influential business leaders, Apple CEO Tim Cook, on a trip to America.

The official Scottish Government account of the First Minister tweeted a picture of the pair after what was billed as a discussion on “Scotland’s strengths in digital health and precision medicine.”

Last year, the Scottish Government announced plans to invest £4million in a new research funding to make the country a global centre of excellence in that field.

Meeting with Mr Cook is something of a coup for Ms Sturgeon, with the Apple CEO usually reserving his political discussions for UK or US leaders. He recently had a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May in which he assured her his firm was still investing in Britain despite Brexit.

Apple is one of the world’s biggest companies, with a market capitalisation of $750Billion, and has recently moved into healthcare by touting the health benefits of products like their Apple Watch.

The First Minister’s meeting capped a day in which she signed an accord with California Governor Jerry Brown on working with Scotland to tackle climate change.

State leaders like Brown will be arguably more important in that fight as the Trump Administration seeks to roll back environmental protections.

The trade and investment trip, which the SNP leader undertook to try and drum up business in Scotland, also saw her visit Tesla Motors in Silicon Valley.

Ms Sturgeon will give a talk at Stanford University later today, with the venue expecting a capacity crowd to hear the First Minister’s speech on ‘Scotland’s place in the world’.