The Economy of South West Wales
The Region And Its Economy
South West Wales contains 22.4% of the population of Wales but:
- creates only 20.1% of the value added in Wales
- employs only 20.6% of those employed in Wales
- includes 24.9% of those unemployed in Wales
The natural resources on which the economy of the region was largely built – coal in the east, a deep-water haven in the west – are no longer of sufficient value to overcome the region’s relative remoteness from markets, which is compounded by a transport infrastructure that progressively declines west of Cardiff.
Low levels of inward investment are exacerbated by the shortage of high quality sites and premises caused to some degree by the ever-widening gap between the cost of developing high quality premises and their market value.
The natural beauty of much of the region makes tourism an important industry, but the product is limited.
Economic change has had a detrimental effect on smaller communities in both the valleys and the rural west. In the valleys, new industries, drawn in with government incentives, have struggled to survive, faced with outdated infrastructure, remoteness from markets and a diminishing, relatively unskilled workforce.
The well-documented problems of the rural areas – declining agriculture, poor communications, diminishing services and out-migration –are now exacerbated by the growing crisis in the rural economy stemming from the global marketplace, falling prices and the animal health crises.
Earnings levels are low, particularly in the west of the region. Pembrokeshire is the only county in Wales with both male and female earnings in the lowest quartile.
The assets of the region include:
- A strong higher educational sector
- The second city of Wales
- High quality environment
- Proximity to a booming Irish economy
- European Structural Fund support – the whole of the region falls within the Objective 1 programme area
An Economic Strategy
The aspirations of the Forum for the economy of the region are:
- To move towards a knowledge-driven economy
- To increase the competitiveness of firms
- To assist the creation of new businesses
- To attract inward investment
- To create higher value jobs
- To reinvigorate urban and rural communities
- Raising basic and specialist skills
- Increasing innovative and entrepreneurial capacity
- Providing the highest quality infrastructure (sites and premises, integrated transport, utilities, IT)
- Developing balanced, vibrant and sustainable valleys and rural communities
- To create an “economic corridor” through the region between Port Talbot and the Pembrokeshire ports with the highest quality road, rail, telecommunications, energy, sites and premises.
- To establish a series of accessible growth points along the corridor from which prosperity can spread to the valleys in the east and to the rural hinterland in the west.
- To promote economic relationships with Ireland through our ports at Swansea, Pembroke Dock and Fishguard
- To develop tourism through products and services delivered to a consistently high standard by profitable businesses with focused investment.
- To exploit the resources of our further and higher education institutions by promoting education/business links through the Technium concept – state-of-the-art R&D incubators with leading specialist academic expertise.
- To ensure the availability of the highest quality business support and development services
- To foster the highest skills levels
- To regenerate rural and urban communities by
- Community participation and leadership
- Volunteering and networking
- Local entrepreneurship
- Tackling social exclusion
- Physical improvements
- Developing a changed rural economy
- To maximise the effect of the Objective 1 programme by facilitating regional co-ordination.