Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has published its Operating Plan for 2024-25, outlining how the organisation will work towards building and sustaining a greener, fairer and more resilient region and strengthening the contribution this makes to Scotland's economy and that of the UK.

Collaboration is seen as essential to achieving the aims of the plan, which includes a commitment to work with partners to capitalise on the 'unprecedented range of once-in-a-generation opportunities across the region'.

With many of these opportunities arising from natural and built assets HIE will be working hard to make sure the benefits reach all parts of the region.

Under the organisation's four strategic pillars of People, Place, Planet and Prosperity, there's a focus on sectors such as offshore wind, green hydrogen and space, as well as supporting further growth in food and drink, tourism and creative industries.

In areas that face disadvantage, HIE will be working with communities to support their resilience and wealth building. This includes attracting people and investment and improving regional equity through infrastructure and targeted intervention.

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Innovation, productivity, fair work, wages and wellbeing are all seen as key to regional prosperity, while embracing opportunities associated with the transition to net zero, including the growing role of offshore wind energy, will help the region to remain at the forefront of climate action.

HIE's operating plan for the year focuses on implementing its five-year strategy launched in 2023. It acknowledges the challenging economic conditions that remain across the UK and are particularly acute in the Highlands and islands, such as population, housing, transport and fuel costs.

Equally, it notes the improvements in economic growth predictions and falling inflation rates, and the history of enterprise and resilience among businesses and communities across the region.

Stuart Black, HIE chief executive, said: "Our operating plan is about challenges and opportunities. The region is on the cusp of significant, once-in-a-generation economic opportunities. These are across long-standing sectors like energy, tourism, food and drink, creative industries and aquaculture, as well as new and emerging sectors such as life sciences, technology and space.

"At the same time, we face continuing challenges, particularly around housing and population, but also transport and digital connectivity.

"To benefit fully from the opportunities while addressing the challenges effectively will take a lot of hard work and collaboration. It also means targeting resources on geographic areas where growth is more challenging and/or economic performance is lower than average for the region.

"Our operating plan sets out how we plan to do this. We look forward to working with our partners, businesses and communities to build on the successes we have and strengthen the contribution the Highlands and Islands makes to Scotland's prosperity and that of the UK."