The
Welsh Development Agency (WDA) was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB) established in 1976 to encourage
business developmentIn the field of commerce, the specialist area of business development comprises a number of techniques and responsibilities which aim at gaining new customers and at penetrating existing markets...
and
investmentInvestment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in business management, finance and economics, related to saving or deferring consumption. Investing is the active redirection of resources: from being consumed today, to creating benefits in the future; the use of assets to...
in
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
. In
April 2006April 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- →-1 April 2006 :* Marcos Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut, reaches the International Space Station....
the WDA was abolished and its functions were absorbed into the
Welsh Assembly GovernmentThe Welsh Assembly Government was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of the First Minister and his Cabinet from 1999 to 2007....
's Department of Economy and Transport.
The WDA had four objectives: furthering the
economic developmentEconomic development is the increase in the standard of living of a nation's population associated with sustained growth from a simple, low-income economy to a modern, high-income economy...
of Wales, promoting industrial efficiency and international
competitivenessCompetition in economics is a term that encompasses the notion of individuals and firms striving for a greater share of a market to sell or buy goods and services...
, developing
employmentEmployment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and direct...
and improving the
environmentThe biophysical environment is the symbiosis between the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables that comprise the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories: the natural environment and the built...
.
The
Welsh Development Agency (WDA) was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB) established in 1976 to encourage
business developmentIn the field of commerce, the specialist area of business development comprises a number of techniques and responsibilities which aim at gaining new customers and at penetrating existing markets...
and
investmentInvestment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in business management, finance and economics, related to saving or deferring consumption. Investing is the active redirection of resources: from being consumed today, to creating benefits in the future; the use of assets to...
in
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
. In
April 2006April 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- →-1 April 2006 :* Marcos Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut, reaches the International Space Station....
the WDA was abolished and its functions were absorbed into the
Welsh Assembly GovernmentThe Welsh Assembly Government was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of the First Minister and his Cabinet from 1999 to 2007....
's Department of Economy and Transport.
The WDA had four objectives: furthering the
economic developmentEconomic development is the increase in the standard of living of a nation's population associated with sustained growth from a simple, low-income economy to a modern, high-income economy...
of Wales, promoting industrial efficiency and international
competitivenessCompetition in economics is a term that encompasses the notion of individuals and firms striving for a greater share of a market to sell or buy goods and services...
, developing
employmentEmployment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and direct...
and improving the
environmentThe biophysical environment is the symbiosis between the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables that comprise the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories: the natural environment and the built...
. The organisation worked to secure
entrepreneurial growthEntrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur which is a French word meaning one who undertakes an endeavor. Entrepreneurs assemble resources including innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. This may result in new organizations...
in Wales by increasing the number of
startup businessesthumb|300px|Startup Financing CycleA startup company or start-up is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets. The term became popular internationally during the dot-com bubble when a great number of...
and by persuading multinational companies to relocate or open
subsidiaryA subsidiary, in business matters, is an entity that is controlled by a separate entity. The controlled entity is called a company, corporation, or limited liability company and in some cases can be a government or state-owned enterprise, and the controlling entity is called its parent...
facilities in Wales.
Finance WalesFinance Wales is a public limited company that provides commercial funding solutions to SMEs in Wales. The company specialises in early stage funding, growth capital, expansion and acquisition, succession planning, MBOs and MBIs...
is a public limited company set up by the WDA and still providing funding solutions to Welsh businesses.
Employing several hundred workers, the WDA was one of Wales' most significant employers with a network of offices worldwide and their headquarters in the former Bank of Wales building in
CardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for many national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. According to recent estimates, the...
. In its 30-year history the WDA was credited with creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and securing billions of pounds in investment. It even enjoyed the praise of then
Prime MinisterA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and...
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She is the only woman to have held either post....
, who claimed it was doing a marvellous job.
The WDA ceased to exist on 1st April 2006, when it and two other ASPBs - the Wales Tourist Board and
ELWaELWa was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body responsible for post-16 learning in Wales, active from 2000 to 2006. ELWa's functions are now exercised by the Assembly Government's Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills....
- merged with the Welsh Assembly. The current Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Economic Development and Transport is
Ieuan Wyn JonesIeuan Wyn Jones, AM is leader of Plaid Cymru, Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Assembly Government and Member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Ynys Môn constituency. He was Member of the UK parliament for Ynys Môn constituency from 1987-2001...
.
External links