There have been various rumours on the Welsh blogosphere that International Business Wales has done rather well in terms of the number of new jobs created through inward investment projects in 2009-2010. If I knew the truth, they would be published on this blog, I can assure you.Yet, there has been no press release from the Welsh Assembly Government regarding this vital piece of information.
Contrast this with other parts of the UK such as the North West of England, North East of England, Liverpool, West Midlands and South West England, all of which have released information on the number of jobs and projects developed within their regions.
What has WAG got to be afraid by not releasing this information?
Is it not right that if the rumours are true and IBW has done well in terms of new job creation, we should be lauding this success as a big win for Team Wales?
On the other hand, would this just be too embarrassing to the Minister who has just scrapped the body in his Economic Renewal Programme?
More importantly, doesn’t WAG have an obligation to releases such information to the general public or is this yet another example of how our devolved government has become less and less accountable since 1999?
As no answers are forthcoming, I have now asked a couple of our Assembly Members to try and find out what has actually happened.
After all, if thousands of new jobs are on their way to Wales, it should be a cause for celebration.
More importantly, doesn’t WAG have an obligation to releases such information to the general public or is this yet another example of how our devolved government has become less and less accountable since 1999?
As no answers are forthcoming, I have now asked a couple of our Assembly Members to try and find out what has actually happened.
After all, if thousands of new jobs are on their way to Wales, it should be a cause for celebration.
UPDATE: Just had the following comment put on a previous post:
"As an ex WDA employee of 16 years experience in inward investmennt overseas, I left in 2005 aghast at the plans then to scrap the WDA brand - arguably Wales' most well known brand name and to merge the WDA into WAG. It was bound to fail and I take no joy in its demise now - it is a huge loss for Wales. The WDA had its faults, but it also had its huge successes. Since leaving the WDA I now spend all of my time working with and advising Development Agencies all over UK and Europe on inward investment strategy etc. All of the various comments made in the above posts I not only absolutely agree with but I can verify that IBW's competitors both in the UK and Europe are amazed at what has happened, especialy since the scrapping of the English RDAs overseas offices will leave a huge opportunity for the devolved administations of Scotland and N Ireland - Wales should have been positioning itself to make the most of this as the Scots and N Irish are doing."
