As 2017 dawns, Newport businesswoman Liz Maher, president of the South and Mid Wales Chambers of Commerce, looks forward to what this new year will bring the Welsh economy and what needs to happen during the year to support businesses and economic growth.

The big news of 2016 was of course Brexit. No-one really knows how leaving the EU will affect Welsh businesses, but both sides of the Brexit debate are expecting turbulence.

All indicators of growth, from the Office of Budget of Responsibility to the British Chambers of Commerce’s own analysis, all point towards slowdown in 2017.

With this in mind, businesses will need support to help them through the year, whether that’s access to finance or support to find new markets in the UK or beyond, alongside clarity on the UK government’s Brexit negotiations, otherwise we run the risk of this slowdown turning negative in the medium term.

More locally, the priority needs to be focussed on delivering, and showing the world that Wales is open for business.

Our members have told us how the delivery of infrastructure projects such as the M4 Relief Road and the South Wales Metro are vital and top of their wish list. A decision to build the Swansea Tidal Lagoon will also send out the message that Wales is preparing for the future.

Wales also needs a business environment which is conducive to successful businesses. There needs to be an end to the Welsh Government rules and regulations that disproportionally increases the burden on businesses, as well as a review of business rates to make them fair to all companies, far less complicated and enables businesses to invest, and we need a public procurement system that enables SMEs to challenge the big boys.

The education system, however, is probably of higher importance that anything else because, if we get it wrong, it will affect Wales for decades to come.

A consistent theme of our Welsh Business Barometer has been the high proportion of businesses which find difficulty in recruiting the right staff, and the recent publication of the latest PISA test results show how much work there is to do. Although the development of the new school curriculum and future skills needs is underway, efforts must be re-doubled during 2017, or we risk a whole generation of Welsh workers lagging behind their counterparts in other countries, which will hinder economic growth here for the next 50 years.

We will look back at 2016 as a year of surprises. It’s now time to get some stability in to the Welsh economy so that businesses here can plan and build for the future.