Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:02 pm on 24 September 2019.
I thank the Member for that question. I thank him for what he said at the start about Ineos—the culmination of long and intense negotiations carried out by officials in the Welsh Government, led by my colleague, Ken Skates. We were delighted to be able to bring those jobs to people in the Bridgend and Ogmore area, given what has happened there earlier this year.
Of course, Huw Irranca-Davies is right that the Bridgend and Ogmore M4 belt is still home to a large concentration of manufacturing in Wales—Invacare, Sony, for example—and they're there because of the benefits of having a highly skilled and motivated workforce.
The Member asked me, Llywydd, about chapter and verse of the things that have been done to support the economy and manufacturing industry in that part of Wales. Here are just three examples: since 2015, Business Wales has helped in the creation of over 200 new enterprises in the area that is represented by Huw Irranca-Davies and by the Member for Bridgend. Since 2016, the Development Bank of Wales has invested over £9 million in businesses in Bridgend alone. And, since 2018, the economy futures fund has approved projects in the Bridgend and Ogmore area that are valued at over £8 million.
All of that shows the determination of this Government to go on investing in those places and those people that have created such success in manufacturing in the M4 belt around Bridgend and Ogmore in recent times.