However, this is not a time to stand still. We live in an age of unprecedented change alongside huge opportunity. Fired by the fourth industrial revolution, the way we work, live and spend our leisure time is transforming before our eyes. 

This has implications for all of us—for every business and every community. We must get ahead of that change to equip our people, places and businesses to face the future with confidence, and that is why I am publishing 'Prosperity for All: the Economic Action Plan'. The plan sets a clear vision—a vision of inclusive growth, an economy built on strong foundations, supercharged industries of the future and regions empowered to become more productive. Responding to what businesses, trade unions and communities have told us over the last year, this is a whole-Government plan for growth. I am grateful for the work of Cabinet and ministerial colleagues whose input into this framework has been essential and will be critical to delivering it on the ground over the coming years.

This is a plan for everyone in Wales, a plan that meets the needs of today and the opportunities of tomorrow, a plan that drives change in policy, delivery and the way we work in Government and with others. Amongst its key changes are a new economic contract to frame a fresh and dynamic relationship with business, based upon the principle of public investment with a social purpose. As part of a reciprocal relationship, we expect businesses to commit to growth, fair work, reducing carbon footprints, health, skills, and learning in the workplace. In return, we will simplify our finance offer and deliver a competitive wider offer to business. 

We will help businesses overcome the key challenges of the future, summarised by our five calls to action: decarbonisation, because we want to enable more of our business base to become carbon-light or free. Innovation, entrepreneurship and headquarters—we want to support businesses to innovate, to introduce new products and services. Exports and trade—we want to proactively support trade with the UK and with the rest of the world. High-quality employment, skills development and fair work—we want to improve our skills base and ensure that work is fairly rewarded. Research and development, automation and digitalisation—we want to help to develop new products, automate and digitise to remain competitive in the fourth industrial age. 

We will change our primary support mechanisms to focus on these calls to action. Any business asking for direct financial support will be required to develop proposals that respond to and align with at least one of these. This will ensure the financial support we provide delivers against businesses preparing for the future. And whilst our economic contract requires a business to do the right things today, the calls to action require businesses to respond to the challenges of tomorrow. Together, they ensure the investment we provide to business delivers for the present and for the future. 

As part of our offer, we are responding to the call from business and others for greater simplicity.  We will streamline and simplify our approach into a single, consolidated economy futures fund.  The fund will align the financial support we provide business to our five calls to action and the economic contract. For the first time, we will actively encourage and work with groups of businesses to develop challenge proposals delivering against our calls to action.  We'll consider proposals that have a transformative effect on those businesses themselves, as well as wider regional impacts. This approach empowers the business community to drive change with bold and ambitious proposals. In addition, I will establish a cross-party group of Assembly Members to help to identify challenge proposals that focus on the key themes in the economic action plan, and its calls to action in particular.

To maximise our impact, we need to focus our financial resources and target our support—we cannot proactively work with every sector in the economy. So, in response to the rapidly-changing economic environment, including a convergence of sector boundaries, we are simplifying our approach around three thematic sectors and four foundation sectors. Our national thematic sectors are: tradable services, including fintech services, online insurance and creative; high-value manufacturing, including compound semiconductors and new composites manufacturing; and enablers, including digital, energy-efficiency and renewables. Our foundation sectors are tourism, food, retail and care. We'll work across Government on a range of issues in these foundation sectors, including skills development, new business models and infrastructure. We'll also work with the sectors to develop enabling plans to capitalise on opportunities for growth and innovation and to address key issues.

Despite being a small country, we are no less diverse. Each of us represents different parts of Wales that have their own distinctive opportunities and challenges. It's time for us to recognise and respond to these. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, we will strengthen regional collaboration and use local intelligence to tailor our national delivery. Chief regional officers will promote regional interests in Government. This will complement good activity already happening on a regional basis, including city and growth deals. In order to make a success of regional and local economic development, it will require more effective partnership working on the ground, and I am keen that this plan works with, and complements, associated announcements such as the new model for regional economic development being launched later this week.

The regional footprint of the plan is consistent with our local government reform agenda and those used by the regional skills partnerships. We do not discount the importance of mid Wales, and commit in the plan to working with partners there on a growth deal proposal. We will improve our infrastructure and, through the plan, we commit to a five-year programme of transport capital funding aimed at delivering projects in the most efficient and effective way. This will have a headline target of driving 15 per cent to 20 per cent efficiencies across the five-year investment portfolio for new projects. Taking the 2018-19 draft published budget figures for transport capital over the next three years as an average annual spend, potential efficiencies of up to £630 million over a 10-year period may be achievable. Pumping savings of this magnitude back into business, skills and infrastructure development will further enhance our growth and competitiveness.

This is an exciting agenda for change in what we do and how we respond to challenges and opportunity. We understand the need to measure the progress we are making through this new approach, recognising economic outcomes are influenced by a range of issues beyond our control. UK Government policy, EU exit negotiations and the state of the global economy are all hugely influential. The well-being indicators provide us with a clear and consistent measuring framework across Government. We will use these to track progress over the longer term, in line with the 'Prosperity for All' national strategy measures.

I am keen that, in taking forward this plan, we work within an international framework, learning from the very best practice across the world. In the context of Brexit, this challenge is more important than ever. This means opening ourselves up to constructive challenge from international bodies with expertise in economic development. For this reason, I am keen to open a dialogue with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and other international partners in this area and will seek further engagement in the future.

Change is rarely easy, but it can be necessary. Unless we change our future today, we will never grasp the opportunities of tomorrow. We cannot do this alone, though. I call upon all of us—the business community, our learning institutions, trade unions and wider society—to join with us. Let us unite for a growing Wales, a fairer Wales, and a Wales that seizes opportunities for prosperity for all.