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New outposts for Scottish Development International will be announced shortly in Italy, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and Norway, directly funded by the Scottish Government, insider.co.uk understands

The new trade offices, which are set to be formally announced within weeks, have been created at the command of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

She announced at the SNP Conference in November 2016 that, in response to the Brexit vote five months previously, her intention to "more than double the number of Scottish Development International staff working across Europe".

The Scottish Government was criticised by political opponents on the anniversary of the pledge in November last year, when only one new trade official had been put in post on the Continent.

(Image: Shutterstock)

Now, 15 months after the announcement, the Scottish Government is set to announce the appointments, and in doing so further signal its intention to nurture and protect trade with Europe to counteract the supposed negative effects of Brexit, although two of the prospective host countries, Norway and Switzerland, are not EU members.

Norway is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Economic Area (EEA), while Switzerland is a member of EFTA, though in both cases the EU is their largest trading partner.

Scotland's trade with other EU countries amounted to £12.7bn in 2016, the latest figures available, meaning that it comprised 17% of the country's total exports, compared to 23% for the rest of the world, and 61% the rest of the UK.

Despite the political emphasis being placed on ties with Europe by the Scottish Government, in reality exports to the EU has struggled to achieve substantial net growth in recent years, as increased sales in booming sectors like food and drink have been offset by falling electronics and other manufactured exports and relatively weak growth in services.

The travails of the European economy have also suppressed the sales of Scottish goods and services, which in 2016 recorded their worst year-on-year fall (0.8%) since 2004.

Figures released last year, following the First Minister's announcement showed that Scottish exports to EU countries decreased by £105 million to £12.7 billion in 2016.

Analysis of longer term ONS figures for the Scottish Government by Business Insider shows that Scotland's trade to the EU, a predominant theme of Scottish Government ministers in the context of Brexit has barely achieved 1% annual growth since 2002.

This compares poorly with the UK, whose total exports to the EU in merchandise and services increased by 53% (from £154.04bn to £235.83bn, or 3.8% annually) between 2002 and 2016.

In Scotland's case, the same 14-year span saw exports to the EU in merchandise and services increasing by only 10.65% (from £11.45bn to £12.67bn), less than a quarter of the export growth that Scotland achieved in the same period (45.3%) to the rest of the world in the same era.

The relatively moribund state of Scottish net trade to the EU has led some business critics of Scottish Government policy to ask whether stationing employing new personnel in a low-growth region for Scottish exports is the best use of leveraging improved returns for Scottish exporters.

However an SDI source said that the expanded presence of SDI in continental Europe would help "protect what we've got".

"It's not an either/or" the source said, noting that SDI operated effectively from UK embassies and consulates throughout the world.

Last week the external affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop was in the Netherlands where she claimed that Scotland's s economic ties were under threat "following the continued uncertainties over Brexit and Single Market access".

In 2015 the Netherlands was Scotland's second main export destination, largely because of goods that are re-exported via the port of Rotterdam, Exports were worth £2.3 billion, 8% of the Scottish total.

She said: "We do not believe Scotland is required to choose between the EU Single Market and continued trading relations with the UK. A solution can - and must - be reached that ensures Scotland can continue to benefit from both markets."

According to its website, SDI has 40 offices in around 20 countries across the world, though currently only Paris, Dusseldorf and Copenhagen are listed as European offices.