"The latest Government figures for Scottish Manufactured Exports show a marginal rise for the 1st Quarter 2010, much of this arising from the drinks sector, which showed a rise in excess of 10% in the 12 months to Qtr 1 2010.

"The corresponding figure for engineering and electronics showed a disappointing drop of 16%, reflecting the very difficult trading conditions within that sector.

"It is to be hoped that the recent improvement in order intake and output volume will result in better figures being achieved during 2010."