Wales: an "open, dynamic trading nation" ready for a post-Brexit world
Wales is an "open, dynamic trading nation" that is well positioned to thrive in a post-Brexit world, Guto Bebb will say today (Thursday Sept 8th).
Guto Bebb MP
The Wales Office Minister will set out his vision of a strong Welsh economy ready to do business across the globe in a breakfast meeting held by Wrexham Business Professionals.
He will tell the group:
Leaving the EU now offers us an opportunity to forge a new role for ourselves in the world. We are going to bang the drum and pull out all the stops in boosting our trade: promoting Wales as a place to do business and trade with, and driving inward investment.
We recognize there will be changes ahead as our economy adjusts to the effect of the referendum vote, but we will build on Wales’ strengths as an open, dynamic, trading nation.
We remain an outward looking nation and economy, and the inward investment figures released last week show that Wales is already an attractive destination for foreign investors from outside the EU. We enter this period of adjustment from a position of economic strength. Wales has seen record levels of employment this year, and unemployment is at its lowest in more than a decade.
However Mr Bebb will also underline the continuing importance of Europe to Welsh business:
Clearly Europe has been, and will continue to be, a significant partner for Wales. In 2014, we exported £5.8 billion worth of goods to the EU, 43 per cent of our total goods exports.
Mr Bebb will tell the Wrexham group that:
North Wales is performing particularly strongly with the highest employment rate of all Welsh regions. The region has “a lot to be proud of and is well poised for growth as part of the Northern Powerhouse”.
After the breakfast summit, the Wales Office Minister will visit Ifor Williams Trailers in Deeside and taste some traditional Welsh fare at The Village Bakery on Wrexham Industrial Estate.