<p>The Swansea Bay City Region</p>

Part of 2. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure – in the Senedd at 2:36 pm on 1 March 2017.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 2:36, 1 March 2017

Yes, I would agree with the Member; we are now entering a critical period for the Swansea city deal, and over the past few months, I know that a considerable amount of work has gone into preparing for the challenge process, and that there has been a concerted effort to attract the views of the private sector. But I do believe that the private sector must be fully part of city deal considerations, and that all of the priority projects must benefit not just employers large, but also those small and microbusinesses that the Member talks of, and which constitute something in the region of 98 to 99 per cent of all employers in Wales, but especially in my colleague’s region.

I’m also keen to ensure that aside from, and actually along with, the city region approach, we go on assisting small and medium-sized and microbusinesses through the Business Wales programme. And, of course, the latest phase of the Business Wales programme was launched in January, and it tasks Business Wales with assisting tens of thousands of small and micro-sized companies, including those in the city region area.