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Nicola Sturgeon will welcome £6.3million of investment in Scotland today on the first day of a visit to America.

The announcements from Spiritus Partners Limited, ION Geophysical ­Corporation and PPS UK will secure 44 jobs in the data analytics and life sciences sectors.

All three firms have been supported by Scottish ­Enterprise through grants of more than £1.5million.

The First Minister will have various meetings during her five-day visit to the US, aimed at promoting trade, investment, tourism and innovation.

Among the engagements, she has been invited to give a speech at Stanford ­University on Scotland’s place in the world.

She is also expected to sign a joint agreement with Governor of ­California, Jerry Brown, on tackling climate change.

Sturgeon said: “The US is Scotland’s biggest source of inward investment and, in the wake of Article 50 being triggered and the risk of a hard Brexit, it is vital we continue to build on the success of our current ­business relationship with the US.

“Scotland remains open for business and I’m delighted these companies have chosen to expand here. It further demonstrates our position as a prime location for inward investment.”

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The Scottish Government have already made one announcement linked to the visit – that US technology firm Xilinx Inc are to invest £3.8million in their research centre in ­Edinburgh, creating 12 new jobs and protecting 30 existing roles.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The relationship between ­Scotland and America is an important one with deep, long-standing ties reflected by the strong economic, cultural and personal links of our citizens.”