IN 2026, there will be a real opportunity for change in Wales — to finally break free from Labour’s grip. I am more determined than ever to see a Plaid Cymru government elected to bring a fresh start for Wales – and to rebuild the Welsh economy.

You don’t need me to tell you how tough times have been.

We know the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on households across Wales.

We know of the worry felt by the thousands in Port Talbot and the surrounding communities who have lost their jobs.

But we also know that Wales deserves better than the economic decline that has and continues to punish our communities.

Tried and tested policies have been tried, tested, and largely failed. We now have an opportunity to go back to basics and to think about what, and who, an economy should be for.

That’s why I and Plaid Cymru are determined to do what Labour have never done: to develop a vision and plan for the Welsh economy – one that serves people, not the other way around.

A new vision for the Welsh economy

Our goal is a successful economy that rids the blight of poverty from our communities by building and retaining wealth, providing well-paying and fulfilling jobs, and improving people’s quality of life.

Getting there means overturning decades of economic decline. Across a number of metrics – wealth, value added, productivity, employment, income – Wales has and continues to underperform.

Firstly, in order to fix something, you need to acknowledge and understand it.

There’s one critical problem at the root of so many issues facing the Welsh economy: an ownership gap.

Simply put, we in Wales suffer from a lack of ownership. We do not own enough of our own resources, institutions or businesses to begin to turn the economic tide. This is reflected in the prevalence of low-wage, low-skilled jobs; low rates of productivity; stagnating living standards and the decline of town and city centres.

Crucially, it sees too little of Wales’ wealth recycled in and put to work for the benefit of Wales’ communities, and too much flowing out in the form of corporate profits for businesses headquartered outside of Wales. To plug these leaks means that we must increase our ownership over our economy.

So, how will Plaid Cymru do this?

A new approach to business support

Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the Welsh economy, employing a third of people in employment and accounting for almost all enterprises in Wales.

Support for these kinds of businesses has often come at the expense of pursuing foreign investment.

Foreign companies investing in Wales have often capitalised on low labour costs and existing resources, rather than focusing on delivering tangible benefits to our communities such as workforce upskilling, reinvestment, or technological innovation.

One of the ways in which we can begin to chart a new course is with a new National Development Agency and a reformed Development Bank. There is broad consensus that economic development in Wales has suffered since the dissolution of the Welsh Development Agency.

We would create a new National Development Agency for Wales, operating independently from the government with a strong brand, international trade promotion role, and authority over policy and investment priorities.

With a presence across Wales, it would tailor its support to regional economic needs, serving as a one-stop shop for business assistance. Its focus would be on growing Welsh-owned businesses and addressing the unique challenges of doing business in Wales.

Crucially, it will learn from past mistakes to ensure long-term success in the 21st century.

This will underpin a new role and remit for a reformed Development Bank of Wales, whose funds will be consolidated and repurposed to better support the growth and sustainability of Welsh-owned business across their life-cycles.

Many home-grown Welsh businesses that have grown to a mid-sized level often end up being sold to external economic actors when the current ones want to step down. Many businesses become disconnected from their roots in the Welsh economy due to insufficient support for ownership transitions that keep them locally owned.

A Plaid Cymru government would make it a top economic priority to support new Welsh enterprises and ensure that the ownership of established home-grown businesses remains firmly rooted in Wales.

Building community wealth

As the historic home of the co-operative movement, we need to embrace and promote social, community-led and co-operative businesses to build the local economy.

With so many successful examples of communities taking their economic destiny into their own hands, Plaid Cymru will support and scale up community-led ventures in new ways by investing in communities’ capacity to establish, lead and grow them.

This needs to be established as a norm in Wales, supported by a fund for co-operative and community-led development that ensures co-operative and employee ownership is a default option for businesses, not an exception.

Instead of providing government grants to multinational corporations that ultimately lack commitment to the workers and communities relying on them, public funds could be more effectively directed toward fostering a transition to co-ownership, ensuring that wealth is recycled in our communities, that ownership remains in Wales, and that power is put in the hands of people.

These are just some of the things that a Plaid Cymru government would do to transform Wales’ economic fortunes.

A Plaid Cymru government would pursue devolution of the Crown Estate with the firmness, resolve and persistence that this deserves, essential for establishing an offshore renewables sector in Wales capable of supporting a sovereign wealth fund.

We would empower communities through greater ownership of energy infrastructure.

We would implement a national skills audit to identify future workforce needs in Wales and guide the development of vocational qualifications and training programmes that align both with learners’ ambitions and the evolving demands of the Welsh economy.

The Welsh economy can and should serve the people of Wales – not the other way around.

That central principle is, and always will be, at the heart of my and of Plaid Cymru’s approach to economic development.

In 2026, we will have an historic opportunity to put that principle at the heart of government in Wales.

Wales needs a fresh start, and Plaid Cymru stands ready to deliver.

Luke Fletcher is a Plaid Cymru member of the Senedd for the region of South Wales West and its Economy Spokesperson.