We in UKIP welcome this plan and recognise such things as the central Cardiff enterprise zone, which has been a major success story for Wales's financial and professional services sector. We would hope that it's a model for further expansion across all sectors of the economy. We also note the Cabinet Secretary's past admission that, with all the challenges that we face in Wales, we can only succeed in partnership with the business sector. Those challenges include digitalisation, automation and an ageing population, all difficult obstacles to overcome. But if we are successful in dealing with this change of pace in our economy, it will establish Wales's future for generations to come.

Whilst having some political differences with the Cabinet Secretary, I sincerely do not want him to fail in his comprehensive ambitions for the Welsh economy. But can I ask him to note that the key enablers to economic success must include business support for the private sector, which should involve access to finance and minimum regulation, taxation or public sector intervention; a robust support regime for innovation and entrepreneurship in partnership with our universities; and, perhaps most of all, investment in our youth in the form of the very best education, both academically and vocationally? Above all, we must instil aspiration in our youth, who are partners in this enterprise. The road to long-term improvement can only come through raising the education and training levels of our people, especially in ensuring that adequate literacy and numeracy levels are universal. But it must be pointed out that even the right educational policies will not alone be sufficient to change Wales's economic position. However, it is a necessary element that few, if any, would dispute.

In order to achieve its economic objectives, the Welsh Government needs to have a system of targeting companies who provide higher value and a greater degree of sustainable tenure in Wales than has hitherto been the case. We must move away from a satellite companies approach to one that encourages those who will locate their headquarters in Wales.

Economic development does not just happen. There is no invisible force that creates jobs, provides new investment or expands the tax base authority of local government. It is people and organisations who make economic development happen, either through private or collective decisions. We need a heavy emphasis on investing in science and technology research and development in this country's self-established goals, and we need to understand the failures of the past—the 'clear red water' ideology that led us to what are termed the wasted years, where billions of pounds of so-called European money has been spent with little or no improvement in the economic prosperity of the nation or its people.

Wales can no longer afford an economy that is based on a bloated public sector that adds little or no financial benefits to the economy. Economic policy in Wales needs to be considered and assimilated with appropriate adaptations to local conditions. We acknowledge the current situation of the Welsh economy can be described as challenging: gross value added lower than the UK average, our country's peripheral position, the lack of large conurbations and relatively low skill levels in the general population all exacerbate the difficulties Wales faces. We in UKIP welcome the economic ambitions, including the plans, and look forward to a stronger economy it promises that will hopefully benefit all of Welsh society.