Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 3:13 pm on 10 February 2021.
Absolutely. And, obviously, Huw Irranca-Davies speaks with real authority on this having chaired our group, which has been looking at this particular agenda for some time. And he'll know better than anyone about the impact that those EU projects have had in Wales, creating over 56,400 new jobs and 15,400 new businesses since 2007, and also supporting 30,000 business, and helping almost 100,000 people into employment in that time. And that's the kind of thing that we need to keep doing.
We have tried to take some early action to mitigate the early impact, so we've been proactive in extending a number of our key economic interventions supported by EU funds that were due to end in the next financial year, to extend them to subsequent years, and this includes support for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises currently being delivered by Business Wales. Support for advanced, sustainable manufacturing, investment in business research, development and innovation, and support for low-carbon energy technologies and investment at key tourism sites—these are things that we've been focussing on as we've been preparing our budget for next year.