Background to the Inquiry
1. At the beginning of this Parliament the Committee
undertook an inquiry into Wales in the World.[1]
Part of that inquiry considered the economic well-being of Wales.[2]
We decided to revisit the economic situation in Wales, in particular,
manufacturing and trade in Wales.[3]
2. The UK Government determines macro-economic policy
at a UK level. We do not consider that policy in this report as
that is the role of the Trade and Industry Committee. We do consider
UK Government policy that can be tailored to assist Welsh manufacturing
and trade. The Welsh Assembly government also has responsibilities
over regional economic policy and has a significant influence
over micro-economic policy. In this report we consider how the
UK Government's economic policies complement those of the Welsh
Assembly government.
3. From the outset we decided to focus on the following
areas:
The transformation of traditional industrial and
rural economies;
UK Government and EU involvement and assistance;
UK Government policy on manufacturing and trade in
Wales;
The impact of trade tariffs on Wales;
The maintenance of existing Foreign Direct Investment
in Wales, and encouragement of new Foreign Direct Investment;
The role of Research and Development in job and wealth
creation;
Support for Small and Medium Enterprises;
Links between Universities and the productive economy.[4]
4. During the course of the inquiry we took oral
evidence from both the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly Government,
academic institutions in Wales and a wide range of companies located
in Wales. We travelled widely across Wales during this inquiry
so that we could meet manufacturers and understand, at first hand,
the challenges that face manufacturing there. We also travelled
to the United States of America, the single largest foreign investor
in Wales, to discuss how best Wales can continue to attract high
value added manufacturing to the principality.[5]
In addition to our formal and informal meetings, we also received
a number of memoranda and would like to thank everybody who took
the time to contribute to this inquiry. We also thank our advisers
Calvin Jones and Dylan Jones-Evans for their assistance during
this inquiry.
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