Skip to main content

IBW's JUSTIFICATION

Whilst a row rumbles on about the cost of reviewing travel arrangements for International Business Wales, it would seem that their team in North America - based at the Chrysler building in New York -is quietly getting on with the job of getting business into Welsh companies.

According to a report on the Business Wire, exports from Wales rose faster over the last year than any region of the UK.

Exports from Wales were up 8.4 percent for the year, powered by a 12.7 percent increase in sales to North America, Wales’ second largest trading partner.

Figures from the HM Revenue & Customs Service show that total Welsh exports were £10.258 billion for the 12 months ended June 30, up from £9.5 billion in the same period the year before. Welsh companies sold products worth £2.5 billion to North America.
During the same period the total value of exports for England fell by 1.2 per cent to £169 billion.

According to the article, Relcom Solutions - which attended the U.S. trade mission earlier this year - has developed a software package known as Merlyn that automates maintenance programs for manufacturing equipment.

"As a result of the trade mission, a major American global automation corporation is interested in our software,” said Rhisiard Jenkins, Relcom's Managing Director".

Other Welsh companies are increasing their U.S. business, including Biotec Services International Ltd., a pharmaceutical contract services company, and Biocatalyst Ltd., a manufacturer of enzymes sold primarily to food producers. Wales-based Sureview Systems International Ltd. has also sold its automated software for monitoring closed circuit television stations to circuit firms throughout the U.S. as a result of the trade mission.

I await the congratulations of our Assembly Members for this excellent performance in outperforming the rest of the UK during the worst recession since the Second World war with bated breath.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Yes it appears IBW is worth far more to Wales than Kirsty Williams and her expenses (inc an estimated £150k + final audit fee) for the IBW non scandal
September 25, 2009 2:40 pm
Dave said…
The most disappointing thing about this whole debacle is the total silence from ieuan Wyn Jones over this issue. He should have been defending his inward investment team from the word go and has chosen instead to feed them to the wolves. Pathetic.
September 25, 2009 4:43 pm
Anonymous said…
I hate to be pedantic, but shouldn't these export figures be in billions rather than millions.

According to the Assembly's own statistics site, exports for Wales in Quarter 2 2009 alone were £2.412bn.

I realise the economy isn't doing too great at the moment but still........
September 25, 2009 6:22 pm
Professor Dylan Jones-Evans said…
No, you are right.

It would seem that a full stop was substituted for a comma as I have found the data at

https://www.uktradeinfo.com/pagecontent/downloads/RtsPressRQ209.pdf

Probably the rush to get the good news out....I have changed the data accordingly.
September 26, 2009 8:47 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE CRACHACH

Unlike me, do you consider yourself part of 'the establishment' here in Wales?  As thousands gather for the Eisteddfod in Mold this morning, they will, according to some social commentators, not be participating in the greatest cultural festivals of Europe. Instead, they will merely be bit-part players in one of the annual gatherings of the great and good of Wales.  Unkindly, this set of the movers and shakers in Welsh society is known as 'the crachach' , and constitute a social class all of their own, dominating the educational, cultural and media sectors of Wales and allegedly looking down upon any outsider with new ideas, reinforcing mediocrity and failing to see beyond the limits of their own narrow experience.  They are said to live in a comfort zone that awaits the expected invitation to the next glass of chilled chardonnay and canapés, forgetting that due to their lack of leadership and drive, Wales remains firmly rooted to the bottom of the UK prosperity league ...
30 comments
Read more

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CREATIVE CLASSES

One of my favourite academic books of the last two decades must be the “Rise of the Creative Classes” by Professor Richard Florida.  This was one of the first detailed studies of the growing group of individuals who use their creativity and mental labour to earn a living and not only included those in arts and entertainment, but also people working in science and technology as well as knowledge-based professions such as healthcare, law, business, and finance.  Fast forward to 2022 and Professor Florida has written an updated report on the creative classes although he and his team now identify a different type of individual who is taking full advantage of the growth in digital platforms, social media, and online marketplaces.  Such ‘creators’ are defined as those who use digital technology to make and publish unique creative content, whether in the form of video, film, art, music, design, text, games, or any other media that audiences can access and respond to.  They ...
Read more

THE FUTURE FOR SILICON VALLEY

During the last twenty years, there have been many academics, politicians and policymakers (including yours truly) who have looked over to the innovation developed in Silicon Valley, California and wondered if we could ever emulate that success here in Wales. Whilst the former First Minister Rhodri Morgan proposed only last week that South Wales could become the “UK’s answer to Silicon Valley”, he is not alone in the world with such a suggestion for his local area. With imitation often being the sincerest form of flattery, many others regions across the globe have tried to emulate the ‘secret sauce’ that has led to this small valley to the South East of San Francisco becoming the seedbed for world-leading companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Apple and Google. But after fifty years of success, can it maintain its position as the premier location for innovation in the World? This is a question that its own business community has recently been asking itself. This has culminated in a...
Read more