6. Will the Minister outline a timeline and targets for job creation through inward investment in Wales? OQ57462

We aim to attract quality inward investment to Wales, as set out in the five-year international strategy and the economic mission within our programme for government. These focus on promoting specific economic sectors where Wales is recognised internationally along with critical magnets and assets that are attractive to investors.

Thank you for your response, Minister. The chief economist's report in 2020 highlights that the growth in productivity and inward investment has been very sluggish in Wales since the 2008 financial crash. The Welsh Government's approach has focused more on pet projects, with big promises but little return on economic development, for example your disastrous enterprise zones, a failure to invest in transport infrastructure, and the Circuit of Wales project. The former Welsh Development Agency, for all its faults, made significant progress in growing Wales's economy, attracting large levels of investment into Wales. Has any thought been given to re-establishing a body such as this to breathe life back into the Welsh economy, as it is since the WDA's powers were transferred back to the Welsh Government that the problems have begun? The approach to economy in Wales has changed to 'hit and hope', and value for money for taxpayers has become a second thought, a decent transport infrastructure is not on the cards, and investors have now looked elsewhere in the UK. Wales is craving inward investment, Minister. What are you doing to promote Wales as the best place to set up a business, which obviously in turn will create more jobs in prime locations, such as along the M4?

Well, as ever, a certain view on the past that isn't fully reflective of what happened is something that I've come to expect. I just don't accept the entirely rose-tinted view on where the WDA was compared to where things are now. And actually, last year, Wales saw an increase in inward investment, the only UK country to do so. And you'll have seen—or if you haven't, you may want to look at it—the international evidence and forecasts that suggest that, actually, inward investment in the next year or so is unlikely to significantly rebound. Part of the challenge of the pandemic and its global reach is that those inward investment projects are less likely in terms of the number and the scale. Despite that, we have 1,300 foreign-owned companies in Wales that employ, we estimate, over 165,000 people. A range of those are high-value and long-term partners. I, myself, have had regular conversations around trade and around supporting businesses that export and import, around supporting further foreign direct investment. I've had direct conversations with some of those potential investors as well. And the point about what we're trying to do is to be smarter about how we use our resources, to have people who are interested in a long-term future in Wales and a high-value future in Wales. So, we're continuing to pursue areas to attract investment in Wales from across the globe, and that includes working with the Department for International Trade as well. So, I look forward to continuing to see Wales as a good place to invest, whether you're a local, home-grown business—and we want more of those—as well as the potential for inward investment alongside that.

Minister, if we were able to have an electric bus manufacturing plant in Wales, that would be very beneficial for our economy, for jobs and for the environment. In Newport East, we have CAF, as you know, who supply trains. They also have a bus manufacturing capability in other European countries, and I wonder if Welsh Government might hold talks with CAF, given I know they have ambitions to establish an electric bus manufacturing plant alongside their train operation on the old Llanwern site in Newport.

[Inaudible.]—investment project that has been landed by the Welsh Government, working alongside other partners. And again, going back to the previous tenure of Ken Skates, where I think a significant amount was done to gain high-value inward investment with a company that's now committed to a Welsh footprint. I've visited the CAF site as well in your constituency. As you know, I'm impressed by their commitment to their local workforce, the high-quality nature of the jobs, and it was interesting that I had the meeting at CAF alongside the business and, indeed, the recognised union, the GMB, when I visited. So, I'm open-minded about future investments, and I'm happy to work alongside businesses that have a real commitment to Wales as well. So, if there is a viable proposition around further electric bus manufacture, I'm interested in how that can be done and what that means in terms of resources we have available to help support that. So, I look forward to contacting my officials to see if they've had the same conversation about the potential for future investment from CAF in Wales.