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Preserving benefits of Single Market vital.

Protecting membership of the Single Market is vital to Scotland’s culture and creative industries, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop will today highlight (9 January).

The creative industries are worth almost £4 billion to the Scottish economy, with nearly 74,000 employed in the sector.

Ms Hyslop will join more than 600 of the UK's creative industries, arts and education leaders in London to celebrate the Creative Industries Federation’s second anniversary.

She is expected to say:

“The Scottish Government is committed to developing and nurturing the creative sector for generations to come, however following the result of the EU referendum, it faces a significant challenge. To ensure that the recent upward trend in the industries’ growth continues, and to protect the thousands of jobs which rely on it, we are exploring all options to avoid a hard Brexit and protect the benefits that we know our culture and creative sectors gain from our relationship with the EU.

“The Scottish Government’s paper ‘Scotland’s Place in Europe’, recently put forward to the UK Government, sets out clearly what we consider to be the best options going forward - that the UK must retain membership of the single market in all its aspects. ‎Access to the ideas, talent, experiences and creative exchanges which the  freedom of movement aspect of the single market provides is especially important to the cultural sector.

“It has been a pleasure to work with the Federation over the past two years and I look forward to continuing to work closely with them on these issues to secure the best future for our creative industries.”

Background

A Creative Industries Advisory Group was established last month: http://news.gov.scot/news/creative-industries-advisory-group-established 

The Creative Industries Federation is the UK-wide membership organisation giving a united voice to the arts, creative industries and cultural education. The Second Anniversary Celebration at the Design Museum in London marks two years since it began work as an advocacy and networking body for the fastest-growing sector of the UK economy. 

Performers at the event will include Company Wayne McGregor and Gnoss, an Orcadian folk duo currently studying at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire in Glasgow who are Federation members. Other Scottish members include Creative Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival, Film City Glasgow, Glasgow School of Art, Scottish Ballet, Live Music Now Scotland, The List, Scotland Re:Designed and University of Edinburgh.