California tour looms for Alex Salmond

First Minister Alex Salmond is to tour the US west coast in an effort to drum up tourism and business investment.

Salmond will visit Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco, taking in the world premier of the new Disney-Pixar film Brave, an animated feature set in a mythical version of Scotland.

The first event, on Monday 18 June, involves business and media meetings to promote Scotland as a tourist destination, focusing on forthcoming opportunities such as the Ryder Cup and Commonwealth Games.

In Sacramento he will meet Californian politicians to promote the importance of the Scottish economy.

Salmond will also deliver a speech to the Commonwealth Club of California, described as the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the US.

Other speakers include the former US secretary of state Colin Powell and the US economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who is also a member of the Scottish Government’s Council of Economic Advisers.

The First Minister will visit Stanford University to see a venture between the institution and Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt, St Andrews and Glasgow universities.

Salmond said: “The US offers huge potential, and Scotland and Scottish companies are ideally placed to take advantage of the outstanding opportunities that are available.”