I’d like to compare Swansea to its equivalent, Aarhus, which is the second-largest city in Denmark, and Mannheim, which is its twin city in Germany. The economic data for the two areas makes interesting but, as a Swansea bay resident, depressing reading. In Mannheim metropolitan region, its GVA is 147 per cent of the European average, but in Mannheim city, it’s 210 per cent, compared to that of the Swansea metropolitan area on 75 per cent and the Swansea local authority area on 79 per cent.

What does Mannheim do differently, and can Swansea learn from its twin city? The city of Mannheim has been referred to as the first smart city, where they have been successful in connecting each household within the city to a smart energy network; bus stops state when the next bus is arriving, and have signs indicating where traffic jams are. Furthermore, in both the city and region, you are able to reach everything simply via bus, tram or train.

Mannheim university is one of the leading research institutions within Germany, and plays a key role in its economy. The research institution of the university closely collaborates with a number of national and international partners. Some examples are the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research and the Mannheim Centre for European Economic Research. Mannheim Business School is Germany’s number one business school, offering world-class management education. An institution affiliated with the university is the Mannheim Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which provides a founder and incubator platform for students, young entrepreneurs and investors. The metropolitan region is more and more becoming a draw for multimedia and high-tech services. The above helps explain why Mannheim was ranked eleventh in the top 15 of the most inventive cities worldwide.

The city is also home to major international corporations: ABB, IBM, Roche, Unilever. Also there are numerous emerging medium-sized companies, which have the capacity to grow. The creative industries are firmly established, with the famous Mannheimer Schule and the national theatre.

Mannheim also has a long-standing cultural tradition, and the Popakademie—Germany’s first university for pop music and music business—is internationally renowned. There is also the atelier of the fashion designer Dorothee Schumacher, and her creations are presented at international fashion weeks. With the aim of contributing to an environment where many more creative businesses can arise, mg: mannheimer gründungszentren supports business founders. The centre advises during the foundation process, provides office space, and helps start-up companies overcome the challenges they face.

I believe the role the university plays in supporting the development of start-up companies is crucial to the prosperity of the area, and also the idea of having key industrial sectors and supporting them, building on local expertise and areas where expertise has been developed over several years. Whist Swansea cannot replicate everything in Mannheim, building on the universities, especially the bay campus, to generate start-up companies via a centre for entrepreneurship and innovation would be a substantial step forward. Mannheim has made progress on energy and connectivity—two areas that Swansea bay city region can benefit from. Finally, building on the creative industries already in the region would help take the Swansea bay city region forward. And can I just remind people, yet again, that the computer games industry is bigger than the music industry and the film industry combined?

Aarhus is the second-largest city by population in Denmark, compared to Swansea, the second-largest city in Wales. Greater Aarhus is a major player in the global wind-energy market. It’s home to some of the world’s biggest manufacturers of wind turbines. Why? Because it was there first. Those countries and those areas, which were there at the beginning of industries, such as wind turbines, are the ones who get the most benefit from it, and it’s one of the reasons why I’m so keen on the Swansea bay tidal lagoon.

Aarhus University is a university founded in 1928 and is Denmark’s largest, with 44,500 students, which is approximately twice that of Swansea. But Swansea is also a research-led university, so the challenge is to grow the university, both in student numbers and in world ranking. Progress on both has been made in recent years, with the bay campus being built, but there's still an opportunity for growth in numbers and improving on its world ranking.

The largest research park in Aarhus is INCUBA science park, focused on IT and biomedical research—another two areas I mentioned at the very beginning and throughout this discussion. The organisation is owned partly by Aarhus University and partly by private investors, and aims to foster close relationships between public institutions and start-up companies. IT and biomedical research are two of the current growth areas around the world. Aarhus knows that. They're areas that the Swansea city region is looking to develop. The aim is to place the region at the forefront of life science innovation, and to be recognised as a destination of choice for global investment and enterprise in the field of life science and well-being. But we can grow our own as well.

Both Aarhus and Cambridge—with its Silicon Fen created in 1970, when a science park was formed by Trinity and other Cambridge colleges—show that a research park needs to be led by the university. And I'm very pleased with the work being done in north Wales at the moment, but I'd like it down here as well. There is the opportunity to produce a research park in the Swansea bay city region, but it has to have university support as well as local and Welsh Government help.

Aarhus is the centre of Arla Foods, the largest producer of dairy products in Scandinavia and the fourth largest dairy company in the world. Arla has three major brands: Arla, Lurpak and Castello cheese, which are sold worldwide. I just ask people if they can name any other brand that's made in Wales, not just in south Wales, which, if I went to a shop in Germany, or I went to a shop in France or Spain, I would find the Welsh equivalent of Lurpak, Arla and Castello cheese.

An area of growth must be to process more of the food locally and to get more of the economic benefit of processing the food as well of the benefit of producing it. Whilst no two cities are the same, especially when they're in different countries, and Aarhus's success rests on more than the above, it gives an indication of the direction of travel to have an economically successful city. Whilst the council with the city deal is moving the Swansea bay city region in the right direction, economic success for the area cannot be created by the council alone, or even led by the council alone. There is a need for the universities, the Welsh Government, the Westminster Government and the private sector to work together to grow the economy.

There are five key actions that I believe are needed. The city deal must go ahead and produce the employment and economic benefits planned for it. We need to get either a centre for entrepreneurship, like Mannheim, or a development park, like Aarhus, associated with the university in Swansea, or preferably both. There is opportunity for further university growth for them to focus on innovation and commercialisation. We need to support key growth sectors. And again, as I said earlier, the computer games industry is bigger than music and films combined. Dundee have found that. For those who are familiar with Grand Theft Auto, that comes out of Dundee.

And finally, we need to improve public transport connecting the different parts of the region. We're no less skilled, no less capable than other parts of the world; what we actually need is the drive and support of the Welsh Government and the universities to take us forward. Thank you.