Procurex Wales connects buyers and suppliers from across Wales’ public procurement sector – worth more than £8.3bn annually.

The Welsh Government have embraced the concept of socially responsible public procurement through The Social Partnership and Public Procurement Act, which brings together four principles: Social Partnership, Socially Responsible Procurement, Fair Work, and Sustainable Development.

This means that contracting authorities in Wales will be required to set and publish objectives to achieve “socially responsible procurement goals”.

The Welsh Government has set an ambitious decarbonisation objective to cut emissions by at least 45% by 2030. To achieve this, a target has also been set for the Welsh public sector to become carbon neutral by 2030.

With this in mind, the Welsh Government has set a target of 70% recycled content of all wastes by 2025, increasing to 80% by 2030 and through the maximum leverage of public procurement, it is envisaged that there can be a significant shift away from those materials with the highest carbon footprint and ensure that re-usable, re-used, re-manufactured and recycled content goods are considered first.

A key component to the Welsh Government’s procurement strategy is the implementation of digital technology. Digital provides the potential to improve people’s lives, strengthen the delivery of public services and the work of government, as well as helping businesses to adapt to the future.

The Digital Strategy for Wales looks ahead and outlines a national vision for jointly adopting a digital approach across Wales, delivering the benefits of digital to the people, public services and businesses of Wales.

Innovation will be critical to all aspects of procurement. Last year, the Welsh Government is invested £30m in new programmes to help Welsh organisations develop and embed new innovative products and services to improve people’s lives, grow the economy and address the climate and nature emergency.

The event enables all stakeholders to learn about these latest developments shaping the future of this area – featuring extensive skills development, networking, collaboration and product showcase opportunities for public sector buyers and private sector organisations alike.