Welcome Message

One month ago it was my privilege to lead a delegation from the Scottish Government to North America to celebrate Scotland Week and the tenth anniversary of Tartan Day. And we were joined by a cross-party delegation from the Scottish Parliament, led by the Presiding Officer. The purpose of this Scotland Week – the first ever – is to promote our country's commercial, educational and cultural links with the United States and Canada.

Our message to our friends all across North America is that Scotland is a country on the move; a nation with ambition and determined to maximise our economic potential. We drove home the message of how Scotland's cultural success can go hand in hand with economic success. And, of course, everywhere we extended the invitation to our friends – old and new – to visit Scotland in 2009 for the Year of Homecoming.

Scotland has always had many friends and admirers across the Atlantic. As a result of this first Scotland Week, we now have many more. And as you can read in this issue, the Scottish Government can say with confidence that the first Scotland week programme has been a substantial success in its nine centres of activity across the USA and Canada.

Of course, the price of success tends to be more hard work! So the Scottish Government is already looking at new countries and new markets where we can promote Scotland – creating even more opportunities for our economy and our culture, and raising our international profile further.

One very important part of that profile is our culture and history, much of which is curated by our national bodies, bodies such as the National Museum of Scotland. And here especially, Scotland is on the move. A new gallery is being created and "Scotland – a changing nation" will look at the people and events which shaped our nation over the last hundred years. You will learn much more about that contemporary exhibition in this edition of Scotland Now.

Within the new gallery, there will be a place for the achievements of the Scots diaspora. Our final feature includes a look at the work of one of these, the Oscar- winning Scots Canadian, Norman McLaren. In "Scotland and Quebec" we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, with the theme of "meetings and encounters".

I hope you enjoy this latest edition of Scotland Now.

Rt Hon. Alex Salmond MP MSP, First Minister of Scotland