The Scotland that we want to celebrate

The following is a guest blog by Justin McKenzie Smith, Deputy Head of Mission and Director for Trade and Investment at the British Embassy Mexico City.

“30 November is St Andrew’s Day, the patron saint of Scotland.

The longer I am here, the more I am finding out about the connections between Scotland and Mexico. It is quite something that the St Andrew’s Society of Mexico is nearly 120 years old, making it one of the oldest associations in Mexico. I am checking up on a story that I was told recently that the first person from the British Isles to visit Nueva España in the 16th century – according to the records of the Inquisition – was a Scot.

For me, the most interesting parallel between Scotland and Mexico today is the way that both are trying to combine rich history and cultural traditions with cutting-edge modernity. A country that is defined only by its history risks becoming a museum.

Mexico is impressing the world with the growth of its high-tech, dynamic economy. Recent Scottish innovations include the world’s first commercially available bionic hand, the first successfully cloned mammal, major research into nanotechnology and the Grand Theft Auto video games series.

For a relatively small country of only 5 million people, Scotland also has an impressive depth of academic excellence. Academics based in Scotland’s universities and higher education institutions produce one percent of all research publications in the world – ranking Scotland third in the world for the number of research publications published per head of the population.

Science, arts and culture also have a particularly important role in Scottish life.  The list of Scots excelling in their chosen field today is impressive – people such as Ewan Macgregor, Sir Chris Hoy (six-time Olympic cycling gold medallist), Annie Lennox and great bands that have visited Mexico recently like Franz Ferdinand and Snow Patrol.

One of the major successes of recent years has been the establishment in 2006 of a National Theatre of Scotland which has no theatre of its own but performs in drill halls and community halls, homes, airports, ferries and all kinds of other unconventional venues across Scotland.  Its productions – such as “Black Watch” – have played to sell-out audiences in the US, Australia, South Korea and other parts of the world – and one day, I hope, in Mexico too.

So, as with Mexico, you have to look behind the stereotypes to see the real people – and in Scotland, that is a country proud of its history, yes, but also fascinated by the future, where creativity and imagination are among our most valuable assets, and where the doors have been opened wide to the world.

That’s the Scotland that we celebrate on St Andrew’s Day”.