5. Will the Minister outline how the Welsh Government is seeking to attract investment to Islwyn from the United States of America? OAQ53519

Thank you. I'm sure that the Member will be aware that I've just returned from a successful visit to the United States where I was promoting the benefits of Wales as an inward investment destination for American companies, and I'm sure that you'll be pleased to hear that companies from the US have made about 168 investments into Wales in the past few years, and around 10 per cent of them are in Islwyn, you'll be pleased to hear.

Notwithstanding the huge existing trading bloc with the European Union and how critically important that is to Welsh business and the Welsh economy, as you say, Minister, you visited the United States of America recently in your appointment on international trade for Wales. During that four-day visit promoting Wales proactively, I believe you held meetings, as you've alluded to, with United States companies that already have a presence in Wales, or are considering expanding to Wales. So, can you update the National Assembly how the Welsh Government intends to now follow up those specific and targeted proactive meetings and this important work? And, can you outline to me now how the Welsh Government can introduce United States businesses to the skilled and loyal workforces of the communities of Islwyn, further to the statistics that you have quoted, who would give a warm Welsh welcome to United States businesses that wished to set up further in the Gwent Valleys?

Diolch yn fawr. I will be producing a written statement on my visit in the next few days, but just to make it clear that one of the sectors that I was really targeting and looking at was the cyber security sector where we already have a great deal of expertise. One of the things, as a follow-up, that I'm very keen to do is to speak to our higher education establishments and further education establishments to just see what precisely they are offering in terms of the courses that they are providing to people.

The message we got very clearly is that, actually, there's a real shortage of people with cyber security skills, so if we produce those cyber security skills here in Wales, those companies will come. They made that absolutely clear to us so what we now need to do is to make sure that the kinds of courses we are putting on are absolutely relevant to what businesses and the market are looking for. So, that's a conversation that I'll be having in the next few weeks, just gathering together, knowing exactly what's happening, and seeing if there is scope to expand that opportunity. And I hope that some of those colleges in the Valleys will also engage in that development, because there's a whole world out there that is looking for skills in this area, and we've got to remember that Welsh young people are as bright, as clever and as able as anyone else in the world, we just need them to believe that and give them the courses where they can develop that expertise.

Minister, in July 2017, the USA and United Kingdom Governments launched a US-UK trade and investment group to provide commercial continuity for businesses, workers and consumers in both countries, as the UK leaves the EU, and to explore ways to strengthen trade and investment ties between the two countries. What study has the Minister made of the potential investment benefits to Islwyn, south-east Wales and other parts of Wales together from these positive moves by the UK and US Governments, especially given that Mr Morgan, not long ago, couldn't sell Wales to America, but I'm pretty sure that your talents will and that our economy will boost in south-east Wales?

Thank you. I think that that relationship between the UK and US is crucial. I think we already have a huge amount in common. One of the things that I'm really keen to do is to leverage the Department of Trade and Investment much more than we do already. They have a vast network. So, whilst we have 20 different offices around the whole world, they literally have hundreds, with thousands of people working in them. So, if we can give them a very clear message as to what we are looking for from them in terms of the UK Government, I think we should be able to leverage that expertise that exists within the UK Government. And I do think that, again, what we need to do is to just come back to the specialisation, make it absolutely clear: what is it we're trying to sell? What is it that we want in terms of investment into Wales? But I've got to tell you, once again, that this, in terms of investment—it is a really difficult time when we have literally no idea what our relationship with the rest of the world looks like in terms of trade. That is a really, really hard sell at the moment.