Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 16 January 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:09, 16 January 2018

Well, it's already the case that we know there are challenges with automation. Indeed, my colleague Lee Waters, I think, has got a short debate on this tomorrow, on automation. He is somebody who has been very keen to make sure that we look at the fourth industrial revolution, as it's described, and I know it's something that the Cabinet Secretary is very much aware of.

Hope—the hope is this: Wales is a place, a destination where companies from all around the world want to come; that Wales is a place where people are seen as being innovative, as being entrepreneurial; a place where people have the skills that are needed to survive, not just in the next five or 10 years but beyond, to meet the challenges of automation; a place where there's not a fragmented education system, but one that works together in order to make sure that people have those skills that are required; a country where there's a Government that works closely with businesses, goes out to different countries and encourages businesses to come to Wales and to invest in Wales—that's why we have the highest figure for foreign direct investment for 30 years—but also a Government that understands that it's not a question of securing overseas investment, it's a question of ensuring that our small and medium-sized enterprises continue to be established and grow.

One of the issues we face in the Welsh economy is that too many of our SMEs grow to a particular level and then sell—the owners sell to a bigger company. There's always been that issue of how we encourage those people to actually grow bigger, to have more companies listed on the London stock exchange, listed on the alternative investment market, because we're under-represented on them and want them to grow rather than say, 'Well, I've done my bit now. I'm going to sell the business.' We have the entrepreneurs, there's no question about it. I see it with younger people: they have a drive and a confidence that we didn't have, because we were put off it actively when I was in school. Harnessing those people, making sure they have access to business support and advice, making sure they have access to support through Finance Wales, making sure that they have the skills that are needed to prosper in the future—that's the key to the Welsh economic future that I want to see and I believe the people of Wales want to see.