Trade Policy

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 2:22 pm on 13 July 2022.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:22, 13 July 2022

We do try to take a rounded approach to the way in which we promote and support Welsh businesses as exporters and, indeed, importers as well. It's part of the reason why we've been concerned about some of the impact of some of the trade deals that have already been agreed, for example their impact on the rural economy here. You'll have heard the First Minister saying that one of the challenges would be a potential influx of other goods, which could mean that rural Wales is no longer part of what we understand it could and should be.

When it comes to our impact on trade in other parts of the world, we again try to take account of that in the sorts of trade deals that we do and what we do in terms of our support as a Government. You'll recall, for example, that some parts of the petrochemical industry would rather we carried on going to some of the international events; we've chosen not to do that, because we're switching much more of our support into advanced manufacture, engineering and, indeed, in wanting to secure more opportunities in the renewables sector, both here in Wales and further afield. So, rather than the broad point, I think it might be more helpful to think about some of those individual questions about who we do business with as countries and nations, but also the sorts of firms we're looking to support in making sure that they're able to grow the economy here and in other parts of the world.