International Businesses

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his European Transition responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 3:03 pm on 3 March 2021.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 3:03, 3 March 2021

I'll try and relate my response to some of the evidence, which I think is probably a helpful way of looking at this. The reality is that there was a significant downturn in inward investment following the 2016 referendum. I'm pleased to say that through the good efforts of an awful lot of people, last year saw an increase from that reduced level, so that is positive and we absolutely welcome that. But it's a positive from having a drop down as a consequence of that uncertainty, which as a Government we certainly don't welcome and neither did business at large in Wales.

Throughout the pandemic, in particular, we've undertaken a very significant engagement programme, both with our current inward investors to ensure that they have the support that they need, but also to identify other opportunities, in a way that has been very productive. The international strategy very clearly identifies the sectors where we feel we can make a real attractive offer, if you like, for inward investment—for compound semiconductors, cyber security, in the renewable space, in the fintech space that she talked about, and in terms of life sciences—and we've developed, I would suggest, a very sophisticated and comprehensive suite of propositions in those areas, and our engagement with clusters, stakeholders and various market channels in those sectors has borne fruit. I welcome that and want to see that continue. 

But I think it is also important for the Member to acknowledge that the consequence of the negotiation that the UK Government have undertaken and their approach to negotiations is to be regretted, because if they had taken a more constructive approach, the story would be even better.