02/03/2021 IWA Report Launch: Business Support for the Foundational Economy

Institute of Welsh Affairs

This report presents an analysis of policy and practice in business support in Wales and its impacts on the Welsh economy. We argue that business support needs to be reoriented to be more accessible to firms in the foundational economy, and that doing so will have both economic and social benefits.
This launch event will include a presentation of our findings and recommendations, along with an opportunity for questions, comments and debate with our audience. We want this report to be the beginning of a wider conversation.
The report was produced as part of the IWA’s collaborative project with CREW looking at the foundational economy as a policy agenda in Wales.
Our report calls for policy makers:

• To develop smarter approaches to sector policy, informed by engagement with firms and by a wider variety of data sources;
• To rethink ‘productivity’ so that it includes the quality of outputs in foundational sectors, and invest in spreading new processes and technologies;
• To invest in a way that strengthens the entrepreneurial eco-system by encouraging links between firms and being more accessible to small and micro-businesses;
• To get economic development structures right, ensuring that economic development policy has a degree of consensus support and outlasts individual Ministers, whilst also diversifying funding after Brexit.