Jane Hutt, Minister for Finance
This was published under the 2011 to 2016 administration of the Welsh Government
Over the past two days, Jonathan Taylor, UK Vice President of the European Investment Bank, along with a team of senior officials, visited Wales at my invitation, reciprocating my own visit to the Bank’s headquarters in Luxembourg last September.
The aim of the visit has been to foster dialogue between the Bank and the various public bodies and private enterprises whose investment projects and programmes could potentially benefit from the Bank’s funding instruments and expertise. As well as meeting a number of Ministers, the EIB team was also able to meet a broad range of Welsh businesses and representative bodies during their visit. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) hosted a well attended event for the EIB team at the University of South Wales in Treforest on 1 April, and Jonathan Taylor was also able to participate as a guest speaker at a special meeting of the Council for Economic Renewal on 2 April.
At the same time, I am able to confirm the latest investment approved by the Bank in Wales: a £53 million investment to fund the upgrading of teaching, research and accommodation facilities at the University of Bangor. This follows on from a £30 million loan earlier this year to Norgine – a pharmaceutical company with research facilities at Hengoed – in support of its research and development programme.
I will be continuing to work with the EIB on potential investment opportunities – across a range of sectors – that could emerge from the Welsh Government’s ten-year pipeline of investment priorities, as set out in the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan.