But the potential scale of the latter’s contribution to economic growth is astounding. In the 1950s, American economist Moses Abramovitz measured the growth in the output of the American economy between 1870 and 1950. Then he measured the growth in inputs (of capital and labour) over the same time period. It turned out that the measured growth of inputs (i.e., in capital and labour) between 1870 and 1950 could only account for about 15% of the actual growth in the output of the economy.

In a statistical sense, then, there was an unexplained residual of no less than 85%. Most economists now recognise that areas such as technological innovation is a major force in the growth of output in highly industrialised economies.

This is why, amongst the debris of a broken world economy, the Welsh Government should establish a National Innovation Foundation, to harness innovation and to boost international trade.

The body should be modelled on successful efforts in South Korea and Finland, to bring under one roof and ramp up the government’s fragmented efforts to boost commercial innovations in fields such as precision manufacturing, information technology, and clean energy.

Wales must strive to be the world’s ‘Innovation Nation’, a hot-house of ideas and invention and the platform for advanced production.

For decades, innovation has been the driver of international productivity and growth. Innovations in computers and telecommunications enabled the information revolution. And advancements in healthcare sparked growth in pharmaceuticals and medical devices. But our leadership on R&D investment and key indicators of science innovation is woefully inadequate.

More worryingly, the Welsh workforce is ill equipped to drive innovation, and we lag behind on the conversion of innovation into home grown production. Going forward, we will innovate less if we do not produce more.

It is time to rediscover our innovation mojo: in our research labs, on our factory floors, in the tradable sectors that drive wealth creation and sustainable growth.

Wales is not China. We are not, thankfully, a planned economy, deciding which sectors should grow in which places, and then aligning infrastructure, innovation, human capital, and other investments to make it happen. But to build the next economy, Wales needs an economic strategy that is uniquely aligned to our entrepreneurial nation, where quality growth and jobs emerge from the DNA of private firms, research institutions, investors, governments, trade associations, philanthropy, and labour.

We need a new National Infrastructure Bank to invest for the future: inter-modal facilities at our ports, high speed passenger rail as in Germany and France, congestion pricing as in London. This Bank will act in close concert with the private sector, both to leverage private sector financing and engage private sector firms to get projects done at market speed, on time, under budget.

Yet government alone cannot deliver an export economy. For our nation to compete, businesses need to understand their competitive niche in granular ways and then exploit that advantage by helping networks of firms get access to what they need: sophisticated market information, specialised capital, customised job training, export promotion, fast track permitting, collective branding, and marketing.

Wales needs a step change in advanced R&D, for example, through a national network of Energy Discovery Innovation Institutes to help trigger breakthroughs in fuel cell technologies, bio mass, geothermal production, wave power, carbon sequestration, and bio fuels. These institutes should connect closely to established and start up firms, suppliers and producers to accelerate the cycle of invention, financing, commercialisation, and deployment.

We desperately need a national innovation policy if our nation is going to stay one step ahead of our competitors. No such national vision exists today. Innovation efforts are scattered throughout governments at local, Welsh and UK levels. Unlike Germany and China, innovation activities are divorced from manufacturing and export considerations. And there is little focus on services innovation and commercialisation, although those hold great promise.

To complement a sharpened national focus, we must strengthen our existing centres of innovation, in public and private research institutions. These institutions should form the heart of regional innovation clusters and be magnets for job generating private and public sector investment.

But this is not just about elite institutions. Local colleges, post-secondary technical colleges and training providers will deliver the bulk of the next Welsh workforce. An innovative economy can only be built if we have the educated and skilled workers to build it.

Growing an innovation fuelled economy, in short, requires strengthening those institutions which disproportionately supply the fuel, and ensuring that qualified individuals have access to those institutions.

Which is why now – amongst the wreckage of other economies – should be the time for business and the Welsh Government to embrace a partnership approach to creating a new economy for Wales.

Wales needs to from a strong base where it could build a new economy, one which is even stronger, and one which is full of opportunity. It is only by understanding just how serious and complex the European problem is that Wales can truly understand the part every person must play in the work of coming years.

It must be the job of the Welsh Government to help Wales understand that we must drive transformations in our economy – to from a strong base where we can build a new economy, one which is even stronger, one which is full of opportunity.

A new economy which is prosperous and fair, creative and skilled; where manufacturing flourishes and services grow; where the government manages the economy for working people and entrepreneurs, for the future.

And as we imagine this new economy we want to build together, we know that for everyone to have a share in the new economy, everyone must have the skills the new economy needs.

For once, the economists almost all agree – Europe still faces very serious economic difficulties. And of course, this is no longer only a Greek problem, nor is it contained in a “periphery” or in the south.

The January decision by Standard and Poor’s to downgrade the sovereign credit ratings of nine of the euro area’s 17 members included some traditionally thought stable and strong, like Austria and France.

The ultimate proof of economic policy failure, mass unemployment, is blighting millions of European lives. More than 23 million men and women are unemployed in the EU, five and a half million people under the age of 25. In Spain, the unemployment rate is over 20 per cent.

The reaction to the Standard and Poor’s downgrades was not as severe as may have been expected – suggesting markets had priced in this additional risk already. But we can expect daily choppiness and immediate reactions to overnight news to continue to colour the mood of market commentators and participants – there will be more ups and downs in global markets for as long as it takes for Europe to get its house in order.

We’ve said for years that given a choice between competing on quality or competing on price, we’d compete on quality; that we’d take the high road to high-value, high-wage, high-skill employment, that we want to create jobs based on making and selling the best products and services we can.

Well now we have to turn this vision into a reality, and a new partnership needs to be formed to ensure that this happens. Smart and sustainable co-operation between government and industry is the model which needs to be pursued.

This new economy will need to be more adaptive, flexible and able to seize new opportunities than ever before. In the new Welsh economy firms will see the moment of change as a chance, a chance to move up the value chain, to expand their discovery and production of premium goods and services.

We should look toward more specialisation, more world-leading research and development, so the ingenuity of our enterprises generates jobs of every kind, from design and manufacture to assembly and sales.

More innovations in traditional areas of comparative advantage like manufacturing and agriculture, ideas which become leading technology used around the world. Wales’ best are businesses more than able to compete and win in the world. Building a new Welsh economy means making many more businesses as good as that.

Welsh workers and industries can aim for and achieve every degree of sophistication and success of the clusters of great manufacturing in places as diverse as northern Italy or Israel, California or parts of Germany. “The promise of this new economy is there for every business and every person in every sector who is prepared to make it work.

However, one opportunity which should not go amiss is to use it as an opportunity to highlight the importance of exporting for Wales. As a world class and internationally visible event, the Olympic Games have attracted innovation as countries try to better each other in terms of technology and technique.

And businesses in Wales should use this as a springboard to have a renewed focus on the importance of exporting for a number of reasons.

As well as the networking opportunities provided at the Olympics, Wales should benefit from the transfer of technology and knowledge as host of the Olympics. The Olympics is not just a competition of the athletes of nations, but is also a battle of the scientists, architects, engineers and artists of those nations as well, making it a ‘knowledge Olympics’ as well as an athletic Olympics. This will assist us greatly as Wales competes globally in the information age where knowledge and innovation are at a premium.

Why does Wales need to export? There are, of course, both macroeconomic reasons and microeconomic reasons. In macroeconomic terms, increased exports help us pay for our imports as our economy grows. Exports also assist the employment prospects of the workforce.

There are also microeconomic reasons why Wales needs to export. By exporting overseas we compete with the best companies in the world and are therefore driven to be innovative and use the most modern technology and management practices. It is like playing ‘away games’ in sport. Only the very best teams win on the road as well as when they have the security of their home ground.

This enables firms to increase productivity and therefore raise living standards for Wales overall. Like our great sporting team getting to the Rugby World Cup semi-final, Welsh exporters should strive for excellence in international markets.

The main rationale for trade is what economists call ‘comparative advantage’. It is argued that if we specialise in what we are good at and trade with another nation for what they are good at then both nations will ultimately benefit. In the words of a leading US trade economist, if we export the cream of our nation’s competitiveness for the cream of everyone else’s competitiveness there will be benefits all round. These mutual benefits are termed ‘gains from trade’ by economists.

There are also competitiveness reasons for exporting. As we have to compete with more firms in the global market we are likely to strive for the best business practices, most innovative techniques, best use of technology and so on.

Another economic reason for exporting is knowledge transfer from ‘learning by doing’. Economists argue that the development of knowledge drives modern economies. This is known as ‘endogenous growth theory’, which has both microeconomic and macroeconomic elements. If Welsh firms are exporting they are more likely to be exposed to international trends in technology, product design, consumer behaviour and so on.

As exporters benefit from ‘learning by doing’, their knowledge and access to technology will potentially ‘spillover’ to the rest of the economy. This will lift the competitive performance of all firms and improve the efficiency of the Welsh micro economy.

There is also evidence that exporters are likely to be more innovative that non-exporters. This is related to the international exposure of exporters compared to non-exporters. Knowledge transfer will become more important to Wales as it relies more on knowledge-intensive industries for its exports.

International evidence also shows that exporters help the long-term survival of firms in the economy. This is because they enjoy faster sales and employment growth than non-exporters enabling a higher rate of survival and contributing to overall allocative efficiency in the economy. Diversification of sales across international borders spreads risk especially if demand patterns differ. Exporting can therefore boost an individual firm’s performance but also benefit other firms and the performance of the Welsh economy as a whole.

There are also non-economic reasons why exports are good for Wales. Exports create closer links between Wales and the rest of the world. They help create personal as well as business relationships between the people of Wales and people overseas. By doing so they can assist Wales’ international relations. Similarly they create opportunities for people from Wales to work and live overseas and learn about other cultures. This broadens our skill base, educational experience and cultural diversity.

In my view we tend to focus too much on the specifics of the business idea and traditional ways of gaining financial support. In spite of being told repeatedly that investors back the entrepreneur, not his or her idea, we fail to nurture our best entrepreneurial talent especially when they experience failure, often losing them to other regions of the UK or by them becoming reluctant employees.

Equally we put them through the proverbial ringer when it comes to agreeing to finance their ideas and impose onerous conditions that often stifle rather than encourage risk taking often reducing their chances of success.

While all entrepreneurial activity is welcome, some possess greater economical potential, so are we effectively segmenting entrepreneurial activity? Often due to their funding terms we precipitate failure of our stars of the future usually at an inflection point in their development.

On a more strategic level, all the high status professions, namely law, banking, medicine etc, have their own think tanks and institutions but arguably, the most important of them all, entrepreneurship or wealth creation, as no central or regional voice lobbying to create an environment where enterprise and innovation can flourish.

Imagine a situation where the focus was on the talent and potential of the entrepreneur?  Where failure was seen as a ‘right of passage’ and not stigmatised. When failures occur and a temporary period of respite is required, during which latent ideas for the next venture are being developed, the private sector was able to offer gainful employment to our best entrepreneurial talent – not unlike what happened prior to rugby becoming professional, when first class players worked for sympathetic companies within the community that the player represented. These nurturing companies and their communities could potentially benefit from supporting and developing talent, by sharing in their future success.

Equally we need to shift our thinking when it comes to finance. There are two basic ways of bringing cash into a business, namely, loan finance and revenue. Young Welsh businesses have been too dependent on the former for too long and many fail because of this.

Smart ways exist to fund young businesses and dramatically reduce ‘time to revenue’, but these ‘Lean Sales’ processes and methodologies are not understood by many. This is not surprising, since it takes a career to acquire this level of knowledge and it cannot be found in any text book. Shortening ‘time to revenue’, reduces the need to borrow but if, or when growth finance is required the the entrepreneur is in a much stronger position to achieve favourable terms from our reluctant banking or VC institutions.

So how are the interests of the entrepreneur best represented to ensure we create and sustain the environment for them to succeed? Moreover how can we nurture young talent and bring the smartest, leanest and most effective business practices to them leveraging the collective knowledge of those that went before? For example, how can we ensure that every leader of a potentially ‘game changing’ or disruptive technology business understands the ‘technology adoption cycle’ prior to defining their go-to-market strategy?

This is where we need to create a representative body that can influence the development of a coherent strategy for ‘Welsh Entrepreneurs’. One of the key aims would be to find ways to leverage current knowledge and ‘best practice’, facilitate integration of the various pillars of a vibrant business start-up community, needed to build entrepreneurial success.

There is no reason why Wales couldn’t be the best place to start a business in the UK, indeed we have many of the necessary features as well as a autonomous regional government with expanding powers.

Only through empathy for our entrepreneurs will we develop the insights necessary to create the environment for them and Wales to succeed. That process may be best served by creating a national body to act as a voice and focus for our wealth creators. To me, it seems perverse that one doesn’t already exist!

But now a productive and sustainable economy must emerge from the rubble of this recession.

The economic crisis unveiled an economy dangerously out of kilter: frenzied with consumption, wasteful in its use of energy, more adept at increasing inequality than sharing prosperity, more successful at exacerbating rather than easing divisions between financiers and ordinary working people.

It is time to get back on track and lay the foundation for a radically different kind of growth in our country.

The shape of the next Welsh economy must be export-oriented, low carbon, and innovation fuelled. This is a vision where we export more and waste less, innovate in what matters, produce and deploy more of what we invent. This is the kind of productive and sustainable economy which must emerge from the rubble of this recession.

The next economy should be led by hubs of trade and commerce, and the centres for talent, capital, and innovation. To do this they need to contain the infrastructure to move people, goods, ideas, and energy efficiently and the institutions to educate and train the workforce of the future. These areas – Economic or City Regions – need to be our engines of national prosperity.

Finally, to build the next economy, Wales must connect the macro vision to micro reality. We need to capitalise on the market energy and creativity found in our economy with smart, game-changing government action. For example, not only must they deliver an educated and skilled workforce, it must be one which will drive the next economy and can benefit from it. The next economy must be ‘opportunity rich’ as well as export oriented, low carbon, and innovation fuelled.

All this will not be easy. We compete in a fiercely competitive world where established nations like Germany and rising nations like China, India, and Brazil are moving forward. These and other countries are making seismic and ultimately transformative investments in renewable energy, in modern ports, in high speed rail, and in metropolitan transit.

And Wales? We seem stuck in political polarisation and hyper-partisanship. Our challenge is to convert our dynamism in this metropolis into solutions that are pragmatic, far reaching and critical to this moment. We must move as quickly as possible to change the mental map of our nation from 22 local authorities to an economic network of highly connected, hyper-linked, and seamlessly integrated economic areas.

The most important action we take in the aftermath of this recession is to build for the future. The stakes could not be higher.

We need to visualise an economy where more firms in more sectors trade more goods and services seamlessly with the world, particularly with the rising nations that are rapidly urbanising and industrialising.

The departure from the current order of business could not be starker with the Welsh economy becoming dominated by imports rather than driven by exports.

So can we get back into the export game? The answer is decidedly “yes”.

We still manufacture a range of advanced goods that the rest of the world wants including aircraft, spacecraft, electrical machinery, precision surgical instruments, and high-quality pharmaceutical products.

And we are poised for a quantum leap in the export of high value services. Educational services are already a key export, and our exports to China of management, consulting, and public relations services are increasing, as are our exports to India in construction, architectural, and engineering services.

Wales’ potential for exports is hidden in plain sight: ambitious, far-reaching goals are what we need at this moment.

Let’s imagine a world where Wales not only leads the global transition to sustainable growth but uses breakthroughs in technology and practice to spark a production revolution at home. But we have a long way to go.

We have been slow to embrace the potential of the green economy. China is seeking to dominate the race to green, dedicating $221 billion of their recent stimulus package on renewable energy and other green investments.

Make no mistake: the transition to a low-carbon economy is fundamentally about markets. The energy we use will migrate from an almost exclusive focus on carbon based fuels to a more sustainable mix: natural gas, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, ocean waves, and bio mass.

The infrastructure we should build needs to shift us from 20th century models of transport and energy transmission to rapid bus, ubiquitous broadband, smart grid, distributed power generation, high speed rail, and intelligent transport.

The products we buy will move from high-carbon gas guzzlers and fluorescent lights to sustainable goods: electric vehicles, energy efficient appliances, smart meters, LED lights, and local food.

And the homes we live in and the office and retail buildings we frequent will be more sustainable in design, more efficient in their use of water and energy, and better arrayed so that people can spend less, walk more, and live a higher quality of life.

This low carbon economy will be delivered by millions of new workers: financiers to finance, scientists and engineers to invent, entrepreneurs to take to market, labourers to build and install new infrastructure, facilities, and products.

Recent global economic turbulence means that decision-makers now have to look at wider economic policies that have to take account of fundamentally altered global markets, while structural microeconomic policies – which affect the competitiveness of indigenous firms – are gaining increasing importance.

We need to develop a new knowledge-based economy in Wales, and our policies must address a wide spectrum of issues such as intangible assets, knowledge infrastructures and flows, and intellectual property rights. At the same time there is a need for coherence between wider macroeconomic policy, as well as among the components of narrower economic policy.

We need to take a fresh look at our traditional sectors – primary resources, manufacturing, and construction – and judge afresh their importance in our economy relative to the service sector.

We need to renew our efforts to open foreign markets for Welsh goods and services, country-by-country and region-by-region, by concentrating on market access issues and developing strategies to overcome obstacles faced by Welsh businesses.

Wales has much to offer in terms of its culture and products, and we need a shop window to display them to the world. We have to communicate our unique selling points to targeted customers, whether they be investors, visitors, or overseas customers.

And we need to find out how far our industrial structure is becoming increasingly knowledge-based and technology-intensive, with competitive advantage being rooted in innovation and ideas – the foundations of the new economy. Industrial structural change is continuing to occur in parallel with increases in knowledge intensity. Our economy is moving up the knowledge intensity scale.

The Welsh Government needs to examine the extent and nature of changes in the global industrial structure and Wales’ place in this by addressing four policy-related questions:

• What has been the extent of structural change in the economy? Which industries have experienced growth? Which industries have not?

• Has the pace of structural change been accelerating?

• Is the Welsh economy becoming more innovative? Is it increasing its use of knowledge, technology, skills, etc.?

• What are the key factors driving this structural change: final domestic demand, exports, imports, or technical change?

Structural change in the manufacturing sector needs to occur in parallel with changes in technological intensity, in the skill intensity of output, and in wage levels. High-technology industries in the Welsh manufacturing sector – those which spend a high proportion of their resources on research and development (R&D) – need to experience a higher growth rate than the sectoral average.

While in the past domestic demand was the dominant factor influencing the growth of our industries, international trade needs to become much more important. High-knowledge industries in the tradable sector need to benefit the most from export performance: low-knowledge industries have traditionally seen their relative decline hastened by import competition, and this is a trend we need to reverse going forward.

Exports will become an increasingly important factor for change in high-technology manufacturing industries. Rising imports have contributed to the loss of output share in low-technology industries.

For the service sector, the domestic market remains predominant. This is a reflection of the fact that services are not traded to the same extent as goods. Within the manufacturing sector, high-wage industries are generally export-orientated, and this is what we need to aspire to.

The Welsh Government to explore the possibility of setting up an Export-Import Bank to boost international trade, and look at similar Banks which exist in India, China and the United States and what lessons can be learned.

For example, the Export-Import Bank of Washington was created in 1934 as part of a larger economic policy promoting government spending to facilitate economic growth. Created during the Great Depression, the bank was conceived to help resolve problems of high unemployment, low income, low demand for goods and services, and slowed industrial production. This context seems a remarkably similar one today.

Active engagement in global trade has become one of the key factors in the growth of firms and the prosperity of countries. This is true not only in the case of major trading nations, but also, and perhaps even more so, with respect to developing countries like India.

Liberalisation of the foreign trade sector has been a cornerstone of the reforms of the Indian economy, with the result that the country’s share in global trade has been rising in recent years, as also the contribution of the foreign trade sector to the overall Indian economy.

The buoyancy in India’s services sector, with the country ranking amongst the top ten global exporters, would serve to further corroborate India’s emerging place in the global comity of trading nations.

Export-Import Bank of India – or Exim Bank – was set up in 1982 as an apex financial institution to finance, facilitate and promote India’s international trade, and has constantly strived to contribute towards India’s globalisation efforts.

With strong business fundamentals, and in line with the increasingly competitive global trading environment, the Bank proactively seeks to enhance the competitive edge of Indian companies through a comprehensive range of financing programmes and advisory and support services which encompass all stages of the export business cycle.

Towards facilitating inclusive globalisation, the Bank is also involved in creating export capability in small and medium enterprises, grassroots business enterprises and agri-industries.

India’s project exports, commencing with a modest beginning in the early 1980s, have evolved over the years to exhibit expertise in a wide range of activities thereby reflecting technological maturity, industrial capabilities, and growing sophistication of Indian exports, and the Bank’s pioneering and pivotal role in this direction has served to catalyse such exports.

This is the same model that Wales should look to emulate, and we should be calling on the Welsh Government to take a detailed look at this issue.

The Government of India launched Exim with a mandate, not just to enhance exports from India, but to integrate the country’s foreign trade and investment with the overall economic growth. Since its inception, Exim Bank of India has been both a catalyst and a key player in the promotion of cross border trade and investment.

Commencing operations as a purveyor of export credit, like other Export Credit Agencies in the world, Exim Bank of India has, over the period, evolved into an institution that plays a major role in partnering Indian industries, particularly the Small and Medium Enterprises, in their globalisation efforts, through a wide range of products and services offered at all stages of the business cycle, starting from import of technology and export product development to export production, export marketing, pre-shipment and post-shipment and overseas investment.

With India increasingly emerging as a major global investor, the Bank’s endeavours in this direction can be assessed from the fact that as many as 176 Indian ventures set up by over 147 companies in 54 countries, in both industrial and developing as well as emerging economies, have been supported, with the Bank taking direct equity participation in select cases to enhance such ventures.

In the realm of trade financing, which is the primary area of activity of most Export Credit Agencies around the world, the Bank’s operative Lines of Credit (LOCs) of over 70 with credit commitment of US$ 2.3 billion covering more than 80 countries serve as effective market entry mechanisms especially for small and medium enterprises, and the Bank is seeking to expand geographical reach and volumes in this initiative.

With India amongst leading global services exporters, the Bank has played a pivotal and pioneering role in catalysing India’s software exports since the mid 1980s, while the Bank’s support to Indian engineering and consultancy services has added to the momentum in the significant growth in India’s overall services exports witnessed in recent years.

The growing domain expertise as also increasing technical sophistication of Exim Bank would, perhaps, be best reflected by the fact that the Bank, in its journey spanning a quarter century, has been partnering and sharing its experience with other developing and emerging economies in their efforts to set up similar institutions, fostering an era of South-South cooperation.

Challenges abound in the globalised trading environment, with increased focus on regional trade, and cooperation emerging as important drivers of growth.

The significant role of an Export-Import Bank in facilitating enhanced regional trade and  boosting co-operation in trade and investment, such as the Indian model, could serve to highlight the continuous evolution of Wales’ endeavours in meeting global challenges.

So, quite simply, in terms of organisational and strategic focus and intent, there would appear to be considerable potential for increased market penetration by Welsh universities with respect to workforce development and employer engagement.

At Cardiff Metropolitan University we are well aware of this opportunity and our Vice Chancellor’s Board have approved the creation of a new Centre for Work Based Learning (CWBL) that is certainly unique to South Wales and, probably, in its intent is unique as an entity across the whole of the Welsh HE sector. Our website has just gone live – go to www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/CWBL

The website highlights a range of CWBL services which we know will see us claiming more of that high level training and development market share – but – more importantly – see us engaging with anchor companies, supply chain companies, SMEs and private training providers in imparting knowledge and skills that will sustain and grow Welsh businesses by improving their bottom line and improving their organisational culture.

How will we do this? Specifically, it will be by offering a learner and employer focused series of solutions to training and development in private companies and public agencies in Wales.

For example, for too long Welsh and UK universities have offered up a ‘demand-led’ environment for higher level skills offering learning ‘products’ that have been increasingly viewed by industry as ‘not fit for purpose.’ At Cardiff Met we now offer a much wider range of learning interventions – from free to access ‘talking heads’ videos and supporting PDF material to capture employers and employers imagination, on to non-accredited ‘Master-classes’ on topics of current interest – like ‘Organisational Resilience’ with Andy McCann – the WRU sports psychologist and ‘Networking and Advanced Leadership techniques’ with Professor Andrew St. John – speechwriter and adviser to Sir Stuart Rose, former CEO of Marks and Spencer , through to our new ‘Know How’ accredited (usually 5 and 10 credit volumes at level 4 or 5) short courses on leadership and management, top team working, marketing, brand awareness, change and project management, financial management and, design-led innovation.

In addition to this, we plan to start working on ‘market-making’ partnerships with anchor companies across Wales, working closely with companies like Consult Capital on the design and delivery of bespoke training and development learning solutions that drive up business efficiency and organisational capacity.

We have for example, created a work based learning matrix which will allow employee learning in the workplace to be placed in negotiated work based learning projects and ‘levelled’ so that individuals can gain 5, 10, 20 or 40 credits for work that they carry out in training and development situations, unique to the needs of their companies. These ‘chunks’ of learning will be able to be accumulated and offered up in a portfolio of learning by individuals so that they can gain a Cardiff Met Continuing Education Award (at undergraduate level) or a Professional Development Award (at postgraduate level) and enable individuals to travel into exciting Foundation degrees or Masters degrees in Applied Practice, which further extend this work-based learning approach.

Why are we doing this? Quite simply because we are responding strongly to the Welsh Government demand that Welsh universities should see employer engagement as a strategic priority. Active leadership at our most senior level has enabled us to develop this response and workforce development is central to our university values and mission. In particular, we have set up a university Credit Committee, which will facilitate the quick and smooth levelling and accrediting of employers’ in-house training.

We have already carried this out with major training providers like Acorn and Stratum Learning and are in numerous discussions with other well-known training providers and individual anchor companies. We aim to make this accreditation service our unique selling point (USP). We do not want to compete and offer similar training packages to those already out in the marketplace. However, we do want to make a university learning experience much more accessible and achievable to the many thousands of Welsh people in work.

We have already started recruiting key Associates into CWBL – individuals who have a strong commercial acumen, who are dedicated to business development and have a capacity to build university work based learning systems and learning solutions that are attractive, flexible and responsive to business needs.

We hope that you hit our website. E-mail us, call us and get engaged with our new CWBL ‘brand.’ We aim to make CWBL industry in Wales ‘first portal’ for investment in training and development. We are all about collaboration and partnership and offer pro-active and sophisticated approaches to business development. We have no doubt our accreditation and training and development services will lead to ‘cross-selling’ opportunities into ‘knowledge transfer partnerships’ (KTPs) and new company ‘Spin-out’ activity. Basically, we are here to work with employers in collaborative ventures that build their people and build their businesses. Our innovative approaches to accreditation and learning in the workplace will underscore all of our work and, we feel sure, lead to greater business success and growth for companies of all sizes in Wales.

Log on to CWBL and engage with us! Help us define and lead the way for work based learning in Wales!

As a country we need to quickly develop an International Trade Strategy to concentrate on increasing the number of Welsh companies that trade on a global level while also providing encouragement, advice and the know-how to existing exporting companies for them to be able to extend their activities.

We need, as a matter of urgency, to create the right structures to pursue Wales’ exporting ambitions and needed to adopt effective and practical structures to pursue a grand vision and challenging objectives.

In a nutshell, Wales needs to develop and diversify our products in international markets; give a special emphasis on the needs of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs); enhance the image and competitiveness of our products and services in world markets; and reinforce Wales’ image as an open market and a good business partner.

We need to increase the prosperity of the people of Wales by creating a change in the culture of the Welsh business community thereby opening new opportunities in the global market. However, we feel that a deeper business culture change is needed that would include a change in the outlook of governments and their policy, together with a change in the attitudes of government implementation bodies.

A change in outlook would include revisiting Wales’s education system; entrepreneurial development policies; public sector grants; planning policy; as well as better targeting of European Structural Funds.

Developing the export component of businesses must be consistent with present attempts to revise and improve business support services, and must also be linked to the strategy of generating more business start-ups in Wales.

The WIBC will assist this cultural change in businesses by proactively demonstrating the benefits of overseas trade, while assisting them to develop an export capability and increase their interaction in overseas markets. It is a matter of encouraging involvement and assisting success.

We feel that we must recognise the importance and potential of small and medium size businesses in increasing Wales’s exporting activity and hope that this realisation will be translated in services provided by any new international trade strategy. While it will on occasions be natural to give attention to the most successful exporting businesses, we should be cautious not lose sight of the contribution made by the sum total of all individual exporting businesses.

Specialised and high value services need to be offered by an International Trade Strategy in order to help, promote and give credence to the image of the country as being a major force in the world market. The services such a strategy needs to cover should be wide-ranging and include, to name a few, the provision of:

• International trade contacts
• Business information to industries, services and markets
• Special advisors to small and medium enterprises
• Specialist product magazines, catalogues and directives to target overseas customers
• Trade promotions and trade fair events
• Promoting Wales’ image and maintaining a favourable overseas trading environment
• Creating a global network of influential businesses that support Wales

The strategy needs to be ambitious in its outlook while also remaining realistic. While it is correct to work for an improvement in our performance compared with the rest of the UK, the strategy also needs to take account of the difficulties faced with this objective if the global downturn continues or gets worse. In such circumstances the strategy must investigate credible options of ensuring that Wales’ export share continues to expand and that Wales’ export performance improves in relation to the rest of the UK.

Appropriate measures should be aimed at enabling Welsh companies to export. We should, therefore, aim to provide the services that are required that would allow companies to develop that capacity. It’s essential to provide services that are customer-led rather than providing services that would merely justify the existence of the provider.

As a body serving the public, the Welsh Government must include performance and activity indicators to ensure that it is achieving its objectives. The strategy should decide on the best mechanism to ensure that customers (i.e. SMEs) are satisfied with the services and quality of advice and assistance offered. It is important that we strive to improve Wales’s overseas trade performance as a whole, while also ensuring that businesses in every region within Wales are in step with the improvements.

Despite the grim economic outlook in Europe, consumer and industrial demand in emerging markets, such as Brazil and Indonesia, is healthy and poised for sustained growth. Technology and falling trade barriers have made the conduct of international business simpler, less costly, and less risky than ever. There have never been fewer barriers to success in the global marketplace.

Wales should stand to benefit from these trends in the global economy. Those businesses that export abroad tend to win. Evidence shows that firms engaged in international trade and investment are more productive and innovative than their purely domestic counterparts. Yet only a small percentage of Welsh companies are making the leap. The number of firms selling in foreign markets has levelled off in recent years, and exports remain at a low percentage of our Gross Domestic Product.

While many things determine overall export performance, one important factor that has kept Welsh companies from seeking more sales in foreign markets is the size and attractiveness of the UK home market. Most of our companies never think of foreign markets and do not realise that foreign sales opportunities are now well within reach.

Changing business attitudes on trade will require a new focus on promotion. We must encourage more Welsh companies to begin exporting. And companies already exporting to only one or two countries should be encouraged to consider additional markets.

Achieving such a goal calls for putting public-private partnership should be at the heart of the government’s outreach to the business community. Our partners in the private sector and in state and local governments can reach the thousands of Welsh companies – large and small – that have the potential for greater foreign sales, including the ranks of very small companies that make up a growing share of all exporting firms.

The Welsh Government needs 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.

The key facets of this vision should be economic dynamism, a high quality of life, and a strong national identity.

Strategies for the long term, which would also produce some benefits for Wales in the short to medium term, should 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 ten 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 would: 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.

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.