WE ALL aspire to living in a great region.
We want to be proud of the amazing architecture, the fantastic places to live, visit and shop, as well as enjoy a great quality of life.
In fact, the sort of place that people love to visit, and where they want to stay to build a career.
The thing is that we already have all of this.
What we seem to lack is the confidence in what our region has to offer and to be prepared to say so.
That’s not to say we are the finished article - far from it - but the outline plans are in place to address this with a wide range of infrastructure and other projects, both announced and underway.
So something we can all do to help make things even better is to talk up - not down - what we already have and what we aspire to be.
Only by doing this will we create the context for success and create the momentum that will convince the doubters and send out the message to inward investors and entrepreneurs that we are open for business.
We expect these people and organisations to deliver investment, innovation and to secure jobs, so let’s not make this seem unattractive or too much bother for them.
While other city regions in the UK without the economic benefits we enjoy here have pushed ahead, building iconic buildings, re-inventing their city centres and developing new business sectors there is a sense that this region is becoming infamous for its complacency and inertia, with too many disparate forces pulling in different directions with the net result that we don’t get anywhere at all.
Our economy is at a key crossroads.
Strong foundations are in place but we need the confidence, leadership and brave decision-making that will help write the next chapter in the Aberdeen success story, and we need it now.
We need a city that is the economic hub of - as well as the amazing gateway to - a fantastic and prosperous region.
This is already a great place to live, work, study, visit, invest and do business.
Let’s all pull together to make it even better.
The region's glass is more than half full