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FM addresses Commonwealth Games inspectors
11/06/2007
The First Minister Alex Salmond MSP tonight hosted a dinner in Glasgow City Chambers for the Commonwealth Games Federation Technical Evaluation Commission
Mr Salmond said:
"It is my privilege to welcome the Evaluation Commission to Scotland as a vital part of the race to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
"Scotland is a nation looking forward. It is a vibrant, 21st century nation - big on ambition and ready to play its part in renewing our Commonwealth of nations.
"I have every confidence in Glasgow and Scotland.
"We believe in the power of sport to unite and to inspire - not just the whole of Scotland behind the Glasgow bid but the whole of the Commonwealth behind the shared interest in what unites us.
"For the watching millions as well as the athletes themselves, a Scottish Games will be a statement of internationalism as well as a festival of world class sport.
"As Scotland's First Minister, I see a Scotland which is open to every creed and colour and which has internationalism at its core. These Games are not just about Scotland hosting a sporting event - they speak to the growing sense in this country that Scotland needs to reconnect with a past which has always been fundamentally internationalist.
"The Scottish footprint on the world is worth remembering - we invented the first television station, the first telephone, tar macadam for roads and the steam engine.
"It was a Scot who discovered penicillin, a drug which has saved lives all over the planet. Scots have contributed vastly to every area of science, culture and political thought through figures like David Hume, Adam Smith and Robert Burns.
"And if that doesn't impress you, just imagine a world without whisky!
"The point is this - Scotland needs to remember and rediscover that international focus.
"The immediate economic advantage is not just in the thousands of new jobs created in the run up to the Games in an area which can certainly use them, but in the millions of pounds created by the Games themselves.
"I am immensely proud of Scotland and of the people who live here. Bringing the rest of the world here, whether in person or simply via the world's media is something which can only enhance our economic position.
"But we are also committed to a £1 billion programme of infrastructure improvements as part of gearing up for the Games. Scotland's transport infrastructure is already strong - for example we have the largest suburban rail network in the UK outside London - but these improvements will deliver a transport system of which any modern nation would be justifiably proud.
"But we also want the Glasgow Games to set new standards in sustainability.
"We want the athletes' village to be the first ever to be built on carbon neutral principles - and it is our ambition to make Glasgow's the smallest environmental footprint in the entire history of the Commonwealth Games.
"That isn't just innovative, it is in keeping with the wishes of Commonwealth countries around the globe to minimise our environmental impact.
"As most of you will know, this bid started some time ago - before I became First Minister of Scotland.
"And I want to take a moment to pay tribute to the former First Minister Jack McConnell and Glasgow City Council for their work in getting the bid to this stage.
"But this was always a bid which had the backing of every party in the Scottish Parliament. It always had my backing and that of my party.
"We have been behind the bid 100% from day one and it is my privilege to have been handed the baton for the final leg."