Last month, I wrote a defence of the work of International Business Wales (IBW) following criticism of their expenses by the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. As I said at the time, IBW should be judged on their performance alone and not on the expenses incurred in bringing jobs to Wales.
That is why I am as pleased as punch to see the following press release from Reuters, which announces that, following the trade mission to the USA in July:
- Aircraft maintenance manufacturer CAVE Systems Logistic Containers has won an order for phase one of a contract with a potential value of $5 million. The initial $500,000 order from the Pennsylvania National Guard is for aircraft maintenance equipment required by troops in Iraq
- Teddington Engineered Solutions, based in Llanelli, Wales, has secured a contract worth over $800,000 from the U.S. Navy for bellows designed to allow rescued submariners to pass from a rescue vessel into a compression chamber on-board a ship - regardless of weather conditions.
That is great news and shows that the hard work undertaken by the IBW team in North America during the last couple of years is finally paying off.
I am sure that this this is just the tip of the iceberg and that there will be more contracts and investments coming to Wales during the next few months.
Given this, isn't it time for those Welsh politicians in both government and opposition who have said very little to support IBW's sterling efforts during the current furore over expenses to come out and applaud their efforts in helping to secure valuable contracts for Welsh businesses during the current recession?
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