The Impact of COVID-19 on the Economy

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 11:50 am on 8 July 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 11:50, 8 July 2020

I thank Vikki Howells for that, Llywydd. I know that she will recognise that the incredible speed at which everything has had to happen during the coronavirus crisis means that the sort of detailed discussion of an economic contract that we would normally have with businesses hasn’t been possible.

Before the crisis hit, we had agreed economic contracts with 385 companies in Wales. Today, that's over 4,000 companies who have committed to the principles of the economic contract. And the principle is very important. It says to companies that when the Welsh public is finding money to support them in the work they do and to help them to sustain and create new jobs, the Welsh public is entitled to a return on that investment that goes beyond the interest of the company itself, and that there are important things that we want to create across Wales: a low-carbon future, increasing levels of investment in skills, and a fair-work approach to Wales. All of those things are important, and when we strike an economic contract with a company, it is those additional returns on the investment that the Welsh public is making that we seek to negotiate.

And the good news is, Llywydd, that companies in Wales very readily see the benefits of that. They too want a future in Wales that allows them to go on trading successfully in a country where we don't have low pay, where we don't have low skills, and where we are focused, as the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 requires us to be, on making decisions today that give those who come after us a proper chance of a successful future.