A new organisation launched on 1st April, Skills Development Scotland (SDS), promises a “bold break from the past” and much more employer engagement. It will comprise Careers Scotland, learndirect Scotland and most of the skills and learning activities from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Scottish Enterprise.

We can be sure that the interests of this region’s economy have been taken into account because HIE Chairman Willy Roe was involved in its creation. SCDI members will hear more from Willy when he speaks at a dinner in Inverness next month.

There is no doubt Scotland faces a major skills challenge. Research published last year by FutureSkills Scotland showed that employers in Scotland already find more than half of vacancies hard to fill.

So what will be so different about Scotland’s new skills strategy compared to the old one and to the rest of the UK?

According to first minister Alex Salmond, the old approach was too top-down and too driven by the courses on offer, not the needs of businesses. He also acknowledged that the state on its own cannot deliver the changes.

Of course, the Highland economy has benefited considerably in recent years from Eastern European migrant workers. But the latest statistics show that the final quarter of 2007 saw the smallest quarterly inflow to the UK since the first quarter of 2005. With strong growth and investment in Poland, this trend is likely to accelerate.

The economy in Scotland will therefore need to attract more non-EU migrant workers. Under the new UK points-based immigration system, a committee is currently drawing up shortage occupation lists for Scotland. However, the new system seems more complex and costly – not less – especially for small employers.

In Canada, the provincial governments have the right to nominate for approval a proportion proposed by local employers of the country’s immigrants.

If the same system was adopted here, Scottish employers, who are best placed to judge their skills needs, would have a much more direct involvement. SCDI will be writing to the Home Office shortly to argue this case.

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