Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:48 pm on 23 March 2022.
Well, look, when you actually think about what you've just read out, it doesn't simply say, 'We are marketing the capital region as a low-wage economy.' It's also about the aspirations. When you look at the wider economic framework, actually, they're very clear in the wider economic framework they want to see investment choices made that help to grow businesses and grow wages. And you also think of what's said about land values. Actually, land values are a really big issue for businesses that are looking to invest, as well as the skills in a population. When I recently met with other inward investors, they were most interested in the skills of the population and the future graduates—the future workforce where they were interested. So, this is about investing in the skills of our population. It's about investing in areas where we know we've got areas of strength. I don't accept that the capital region is being marketed as an area of low wages and wages to be kept low. It's actually about how do we ensure that we have advantages for the capital region, particularly with a younger population, which is a real advantage for a range of employers as well, but high levels of skill and the potential for real wage growth, which is what I want to see, and it's certainly what the capital region wants to see as well.