Wales is “open for business”, according to the new minister for enterprise, connectivity, and energy.

Former Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price, who was appointed to the role last month, told Senedd colleagues on 2 June that the new Welsh Government will be “placing productivity at the heart of its approach”.

In his new role, Mr Price has responsibility over areas such as tourism, Business Wales, and international trade policy and promotion, including overseeing matters relating to the UK/EU Trade. He is also responsible for economic strategy and policy.

He said: “Productivity is the foundation of long-term prosperity. It underpins wages, living standards and competitiveness.

“Today, Wales continues to lag behind, with productivity around 15 per cent lower than the UK average.

“But productivity is not an abstract measure; it's about raising incomes, creating better jobs, and ensuring prosperity is shared all across Wales.”

Mr Price said the Welsh Government would be adopting a new approach, which he described as a “mission to tackle productivity and a target to reduce Wales’s productivity gap by half with the UK within ten years”.

Concluding his speech to the Senedd, he said: “This is a moment of opportunity. Wales has the assets, the talent, and potential to succeed. What is now needed is leadership and delivery.

“It requires focus and a relentless emphasis on delivery. It requires a government prepared to make choices and act with pace.

“And it requires a clear mission, one that puts productivity, people and firms at its core.

“That is our mission.”

Jason O’Connell, Reform’s shadow minister for economy and transport questioned plans to bring back a “failed” Welsh development agency while Labour’s spokesperson for employment, equalities, and economic transformation, Shav Taj, warned that “people aren't asking for promises - they want action, and they want it now.”