Welsh Development Agency

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The Welsh Development Agency (WDA) was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB) established in 1976 to encourage business development and investment in Wales. In April 2006 the WDA was abolished and its functions were absorbed into the Welsh Assembly Government's Department of Economy and Transport.

The WDA had four objectives: furthering the economic development of Wales, promoting industrial efficiency and international competitiveness, developing employment and improving the environment.^[1] The organisation worked to secure entrepreneurial growth in Wales by increasing the number of startup businesses and by persuading multinational companies to relocate or open subsidiary facilities in Wales. Finance Wales 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^{[citation needed]} with a network of offices worldwide and their headquarters in the former Bank of Wales building in Cardiff. 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 Minister Margaret Thatcher, who claimed it was doing a marvellous job.^[2]

The WDA ceased to exist on 1st April 2006, when it and two other ASPBs - the Wales Tourist Board and ELWa - merged with the Welsh Assembly. The current Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Economic Development and Transport is Ieuan Wyn Jones.