First Minister Carwyn Jones is to emphasise the importance of close working links between business and the Welsh Government today.
Mr Jones will chair a meeting of the Council for Economic Renewal, which is made up of representatives from business, trade unions and social enterprises. He will highlight the need for the Welsh Government and the private sector to continue working together to benefit the economy of Wales.
Representatives from the CBI, Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Directors and the Wales TUC are among those who will be attending.
The First Minister will be joined by the Business Minister Edwina Hart, the Finance Minister Jane Hutt, Minister for Housing Huw Lewis and Alun Davies, Deputy Minister responsible for European programmes.
The Welsh Government’s recently announced £15 billion the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan, the future of European Structural Funds and the Housing White Paper are also on the agenda.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, the First Minister said: “There is no escaping the fact that the global economic conditions remain uncertain and Wales is feeling the impact. The most recent data has confirmed that GDP fell by 0.3% in the first quarter, putting the UK economy technically back in recession.
“On top of this the ongoing political and financial events in the Eurozone, particularly Greece and the situation in Spain continue to create a lot of uncertainty.
“Clearly, we all need to track the official statistics. These are testing times and we want to be quick to act if conditions change. The people who will be around the table today will know how things are going long before the statistics are published.
“That is why the open relationships we have through the Council for Economic Renewal are so important. Where we can act, we need to keep working together to ensure we are maximising opportunities. Our talks today show that the Welsh Government’s relationship with the business community and trade unions is central to a joint approach to improving the economy of Wales.”