Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I start by welcoming this debate today on the establishment of a stock exchange for Wales? I’ve been very interested to learn from Neil McEvoy his views and his proposals for a Welsh stock exchange. This is a valuable debate, even though it’s not a new proposition. It is a suggestion that has been considered by previous Welsh Government administrations, as I’m sure the Member is aware.

In January 2010, a report on a Welsh stock exchange by Robert Huggins and Daniel Prokop was published, and that report, which was based on a sample of 1,500 companies, of which there were 169 responses, suggested that 36 per cent expressed some interest in listing on a Wales stock exchange. Delving a little more into the data, it was found that 8 per cent had considered flotation in the previous five years, 19 per cent would consider floating in the next five years, and a further 13 per cent in the 10 years after that. Clearly, it demonstrated some appetite and interest for a stock exchange in Wales, but it was concluded by that Government that the costs of establishing a stock exchange could not be justified. This is because the cost of establishing a stock exchange can run into many millions of pounds due to the significant set-up costs, including, of course, recruitment, staff training, IT systems and so forth.

In 2008, the Welsh Government investigated a number of opportunities to set up a stock market in Wales but, again, neither project progressed due to the lack of demand to support the costs. So, it’s not clear, still, whether there is a strong enough case to set up a regional stock market in Wales. One of the main rationales for setting up a stock exchange would be, as the Member has identified, to fill a gap in funding for businesses and provide an opportunity for companies to raise capital. Now, whilst we do, of course, recognise that access to finance continues to be a concern for businesses in Wales, there’s already a range of financial support available in Wales and it’s not clear what gap or what gaps would be filled by a regional stock exchange.

Supporting businesses in Wales is vital in creating jobs, driving economic growth, increasing productivity and so forth, and the success of business is critical in the growth of the economy right across communities in Wales. Improving access to finance has been a priority, therefore, for Government for many years, over which time we’ve introduced a range of funds and products. As Members are aware, we are continuing to progress the manifesto commitment to the establishment of a development bank of Wales, and it’s clear that growing businesses need access to growth capital. The development bank will help businesses find the right finance partner to leverage in private finance with its own gap finance when necessary. It’ll have the objective of providing greater levels of funding to SMEs, whilst at the same time improving the integration of the provision and advice and support to businesses by working more closely with Business Wales.

There are a couple more examples of the steps we’ve taken to support businesses financially immediately after the EU referendum vote. Of course, we launched the Business Wales confidence plan, which contained a series of actions that we are now delivering, and all are aimed at promoting business confidence and activity across the country. The interventions included the announcement of a new growth and prosperity fund, and our repayable fund for SMEs, so that Wales remains an attractive place for businesses to invest. Our Business Wales service was, of course, aligned, again, in January of last year, to make it easier for Welsh businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs to access the information, advice and support that they need to start up and grow their businesses.

In order to make a case for a Welsh stock exchange, we therefore need to understand clearly why Welsh firms are unable or, possibly, unwilling to access existing funding sources and stock exchanges. As I said at the beginning, this issue has been visited before, and, in the past, it was concluded that the research did not provide a strong enough argument for setting up a regional stock market. There’s no clear evidence that smaller, regional stock markets are particularly successful when in competition with larger markets and alternative funding sources, but, of course, I remain open to the idea of a stock exchange if demand for such a service were to increase. Currently, if there are barriers to accessing existing stock markets for Welsh firms, then, perhaps, an alternative solution could be to work on reducing such barriers, rather than attempting to set up a competitor.

But if there is a case for a stock market in Wales, I believe that the private sector should lead. It’s not clear what role the public sector could or even should play in private equity markets, but I can assure Members that, as a pro-business Government, our priority remains to deliver on a range of actions to help new and existing companies to develop, grow and prosper.