First Minister Rhodri Morgan today announced in Brussels the first projects to get the go-ahead under the new West Wales and the Valleys Convergence Programme – the successor to Objective One.
Around £50 million will be invested in two new Knowledge and Technology Transfer projects to help Welsh business benefit from innovation in Welsh universities, turning cutting-edge ideas into commercially viable products. They will also help to provide industry with a skilled workforce equipped for the 21st Century.
Mr Morgan said:
We are giving a clear signal for the Welsh economy today with the announcement that the first £50 million batch of approvals from the £1.4 billion Convergence programmes 2007-2013 will go to assist the development of research technologies and forge a culture of enterprise in higher education in Wales.
We have always said that the new Convergence programmes would have a strong emphasis on building the knowledge economy so that our small, clever country can compete even more successfully on the world stage. The approval of these projects marks the beginning of the next stage in our plans for the transformation of the Welsh economy. There will be further announcements of project approvals over the coming days and weeks.
Both of the projects announced today will build on the investments made through Objective 1 Innovation and Technology projects, including the Knowledge Exploitation Fund (KEF), which have already helped thousands entrepreneurs. They will provide further investment in activities to boost innovation, jobs and growth in West Wales & the Valleys.
Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said the Convergence projects provide a new opportunity to improve the economic prosperity of the region through ensuring that the Western parts of Wales and the Valleys have a highly skilled and innovative workforce. He said:
These projects will enable higher and further education to work with businesses and other partners in order to promote technological developments, to share ideas and to develop these into new exciting business opportunities. They will support investment in the higher level training that's necessary to allow industry to develop new and more competitive technologies.
This is a very exciting beginning to the new Convergence programmes. Our aim is to achieve ever-increasing productivity and enterprise in Wales - leading to more jobs and raising properity across the nation.
The Convergence programmes will invest in job creation and boost sustainable economic growth in line with the EU’s Lisbon and Gothenburg Agendas, and Welsh Assembly Government strategies including One Wales. The programmes will also support R&D and innovation, tackle climate change and regenerate the region’s most deprived communities, including by raising skills and helping people into work. Further project approvals are expected to be announced very shortly.
