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EDWINA HART SAYS ‘WALES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS’
EDWINA HART SAYS ‘WALES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS’
Welsh Labour Leadership candidate Edwina Hart on a visit to the Ford
factory in Bridgend today (Monday November 2) will - in a keynote
message on economic policy- say that ‘Wales is open for business’.
Edwina said:
“I know, like any socialist, that social policy is rooted in economic
advancement, and much of what I want to achieve depends on how we
manage the future of the Welsh economy.”
She added:
“For too long we have depended heavily on grant culture. There’s
nothing wrong with grants under the right circumstances. And we will
continue to offer grants. But in the new global economy, attracting
sustainable jobs and industries is more complex than just putting a sum
of Welsh tax payers money on the table.
"There has to be give and take between government and industry. When we
as a government can assist either an indigenous or an international
company to bring and maintain quality jobs in Wales, our door will always
be open. But I am not interested in a revolving door policy where a
company takes the best we have to offer only to move on, taking high
quality jobs with them.
"We can attract and keep quality jobs in Wales because we’re a small
clever country ready to do business. Don’t just take my word for it.
Ask high tech companies like Airbus, Ford in Bridgend, Corus, or the
energy industry in Pembrokeshire. We have the skills to support these
industries, and that’s why they want to stay and do business with us. I
have a simple message to all clever companies, large or small - if you
guarantee to buy into our communities for the long run, Wales will
continue to buy into you.
"It's crucial that we offer all our communities a stake in society,
crucial that we have a thriving economy where we can create & sustain
good quality jobs and crucial we have the training & skills programmes
tailored to meet the needs of our citizens and employers alike.
"I make this pledge. If I become the First Minister for Wales there
will always be a warm welcome for forward thinking companies who want
to join ‘Team Wales’. Firms who wish to do business with Wales will
have to sign up as full members of the Welsh social partnership
approach for the long term – committing themselves to good employment
practices, ensuring that staff have opportunities to keep skills
up-to-date and meeting our principles of environmental sustainability
and corporate responsibility. I don’t think that is too much to ask
progressive companies.”
“We will also need to nurture co-operative and not-for-profit
employers. We have a proud record of this in Wales, from the pioneering
work of Robert Owen, founder of the Co-op movement, to Glas Cymru – a
not-for-profit model of the 21st century.
"I want to develop a more varied and innovative approach to economic
development. For example Finance Wales, our own state-owned merchant
bank, has demonstrated where we can make up for market failures in
financial services.
"Coming from a banking environment myself, I want to see a new
Citizens’ Bank for Wales, possibly working on a not-for-profit basis,
alongside credit unions and other community-based programmes. I want to
make sure that proper, responsible access to finance is available to
those individuals, social groups and enterprises for whom traditional
banks and building societies have ceased to provide a service.
"All these strands seek to protect and nourish Wales’s future. We must
attract new industry and allow existing industry to thrive. Above all
we must ensure that Wales never again suffers the consequences of
having a ’Lost Generation’.
"By investing in high quality skills that are led by education and
industry we can aspire to make Wales the ‘go to’ country in the highly
skilled globalised new economy. By rediscovering the pioneering spirit
we had throughout the Industrial age, and applying it to the digital
age of the 21st Century, we can secure Wales’s future together.”
“Let me be clear on this, Wales is open for business.”
2 November 2009
