Make it a date: "Welsh Government needs to develop an economic plan which will provide an overview of the economic landscape over the next 20 years"

THINGS I’d like to see in 2012: namely, for the Welsh Government to set a new direction for the Welsh economy in order to attain the status and characteristics of a Premier League developed country within the next 20 years.

Key facets of this vision are economic dynamism, a high quality of life, and a strong national identity.

And strategies for the long term, which would also produce some benefits for Wales in the short to medium term, need to be directed at maintaining and extending the nation’s international competitiveness.

When change is so rapid and dynamic as in the international economic environment, the very planning process is fraught with risks. Very few predicted the global financial crisis or the degree of impact this would have on the world economy now and in the future.

Wales cannot hope to predict such dramatic events at home or abroad. But through scenarios and contingency plans our new direction should take into account various contributory factors, and weigh up other more gradual shifts and trends in international politics, trade and economics.

With clear lessons from the recent past of the world economy and Wales’ experience, the writing on the wall for the next 10 years and beyond is that economic strategies for Wales need to evolve from the past single dimensional type to a multi-dimensional one in order to remain viable in an increasingly complex environment.

In this context, the Welsh Government needs to develop an economic plan which will: provide an overview of the economic landscape over the next 20 years; define a clear vision for the economy and analyse its implications; initiate a national planning process, which is consultative and evolutionary in character; and help build a shared vision among labour, business and government on national economic aspirations.

Despite the long horizon, Wales must take steps now to seriously and vigorously pursue the goal of becoming a first division developed country for two reasons. First, some of the strategies, like enhancing manpower, requires a long lead time of one generation or more. Second, it provides the best possible assurance against being overtaken by other emerging countries which, if it happened, could lead to economic stagnation or decline.

In order to grow at relatively high rates, it is necessary to reorganise the way human and physical resources are managed. And the basic issue which underlies Wales’ efforts to become a developed country economically is the issue of international competitiveness.

On what basis can Wales hope to compete with higher-performing export-led countries? The answer can only lie in improving and upgrading to a level comparable to what these countries have today in key areas. And so long as Wales remains an open economy, the assessment of what factors are important is essentially one that is judged by companies themselves.

Wales needs to understand where the developed countries are on key parameters, and to move towards where they are. However, it must be recognised that, given our size, there are some things that are beyond our capabilities. Basic research, for example, is one area where a country needs economies of scale and a large pool of interdisciplinary talent.

But, as in Switzerland’s case, there are several niche areas in which it has specialised and earned a top developed country’s standard of living. Wales needs to identify and cultivate the right kind of niches and within these niches, move as close to the level of top developed countries as it is possible to achieve.

The single most important factor towards achieving developed country status is enhancing Wales’ most important resource, its people. They should therefore be equipped with: a high standard of competence; a high level of basic education; a high degree of industry relevance in training programmes; effective programmes for mid-career training; and nurturing important human resource qualities, such as the work ethic and creativity.

Wales has spent the last 15 years investing heavily in physical infrastructure, but emphasis now needs to be placed on soft infrastructure which consists of technological infrastructure, comprising a pool of trained manpower in key technologies as well as a network of technical competence centres and research institutes which enable companies to be effective in design and innovation, along with a social climate and institutional structure which supports innovation and a national system which encourages a high degree of co-operation among labour, business and government.

Young people need business role models

ABOUT a year ago, I attended a conference with the ever-so-sexy title Stimulating Entrepreneurial Education and Training (SEET) in Amsterdam. This conference (the venue being a considerable distance from the city’s cannabis cafés, I hasten to add) led to the creation of a SEET group which I am still a member of today. I remained a member for two very important points.

The first one is the importance of entrepreneurship, a fact not lost on any of the governmental departments represented on the group – Dutch, Belgian, Norwegian, and our own Welsh Government.

Recently a number of fresh opportunities for entrepreneurial proposals have been pursued by the EU through the Oslo Agenda for Entrepreneurship Education, which aims to step up progress in promoting entrepreneurial mindsets in society, in a structured way, and with effective actions.

The entrepreneurs of today are seen as the catalyst which speeds up the process of creating wealth for the economy, providing jobs, and providing an assorted range of goods and services to consumers.

Entrepreneurial programmes are now being introduced to schools and colleges, as well as higher education, giving students a taste of creating and managing firms, looking at the relevance of business to the financial system, the uniqueness of monetary ventures, managing human resources, pecuniary transactions, legality in dealings, and learning general entrepreneurial skills.

The higher the levels of entrepreneurship in the nation the higher is its level of development, a fact not lost on SEET’s partners. In earlier decades the importance of entrepreneurship was more than often underrated but now, especially in these recessionary times, it has become apparent. The crux motive of entrepreneurship is to transform dreams into profitable reality. In the process, entrepreneurship strengthens the economic growth of a nation, as well as speeding up modernisation and transforming ways of thinking.

SEET itself is a transnational network, aiming to improve the dissemination of policies, methods and instruments to stimulate entrepreneurship in education and training and to enhance the transfer of entrepreneurial competences to young people and adults.

It does this by organising study visits, transnational events (such as this conference in Amsterdam) and regional activities in the field of entrepreneurial education and training. It is also looking to set up an internet-based Transnational Knowledge Centre on entrepreneurial education and training.

At present the group is looking at the four key ways in which SEET partner organisations can address and contribute to the Oslo Agenda including: promotion of entrepreneurial education and training (especially at a regional level); engaging with policy and decision-makers to ensure support for entrepreneurial education and training; development and delivery of entrepreneurial education and training; and training trainers, including support for practice-based teaching tools.

The second very important point is just how highly our own civil servants in the Welsh Government are regarded by other countries. Their work is seen as pioneering in that it cuts across educational and economic development departments and a lot is achieved with relatively small amounts of funding.

While other countries have secured the high-level championing of entrepreneurship through their elected leaders, the Welsh Government has approached the issue through building strong collaborative links within its own departments as well as at a local education level.

The cornerstone of this approach can be seen in its Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy (YES) which works through partnerships to empower Wales’ education system to contribute towards a more entrepreneurial culture; to promote enterprise skills outside formal education; to encourage entrepreneurial behaviour whilst in employment; to develop the delivery infrastructure; and to improve access to opportunities and learning pathways for individuals.

Wales’ greatest asset in achieving these goals is our young people, their skills, ambition and drive. If Wales is to become a place where more people want to create and grow sustainable businesses, the right lifelong learning opportunities and skills support need to be in place.

Competing through cheaper labour costs is not a sustainable option for Wales in an enlarged EU and globalised economy. Raising skill, attainment and innovation levels is the way forward. It is vitally important that our young people are able and equipped to respond flexibly to the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

We must also recognise that we will need to be innovative and determined in delivering this change, given that our European Union partners have set a similar agenda for themselves.

This is one reason why the Welsh Government has been working on the Dynamo model, another idea coveted by our continental neighbours. The most effective way to tell young people about the real life experience of entrepreneurship is to let local entrepreneurs do the talking.

Active and successful entrepreneurs from right across Wales have been recruited to act as role models. Dynamo role models are the ones that can best convey the exhilaration of taking control of your future and being your own boss. After all, they understand the motivations needed to succeed and can encourage students to consider these in their own future.

For many young people this is the first time they have met someone that runs their own company and through the presentation, they come to appreciate the opportunities that exist and determination needed to make it happen.

Role models are recruited locally so they understand the background from which the young people come and the issues facing their communities. They have been trained to understand what it’s like to deliver within the educational environment.