The Prince of Wales spoke warmly about setting up his first home with Catherine in wales and said it felt like they had joined a ‘family of three million people’
The Prince of Wales addressing the Wales Investment Summit(Image: PA)
The Prince of Wales has hailed Wales as the place for foreign investors to do business and grasp the “extraordinary possibility” on offer. Speaking at Wales Investment Summit at the ICC Wales in Newport, William said he was “proud” to be following in his father’s footsteps.
He praised the King for showing “leadership in championing Welsh business and innovation” decades ago, when he personally encouraged the co-founder of Sony to open a factory in Wales. The future King also appreciated the “sense of warmth and belonging” that makes Wales unique.
He described experiencing that after setting up his first home with wife Kate on Anglesey when he was an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot. For the biggest stories in Wales first, sign up to our daily newsletter here
William delivered his speech to the Welsh Government summit, which attracted 300 firms and investors from 32 countries after meeting a group of entrepreneurs and firms showing off their innovative businesses already based in Wales, from colourful coverings for prosthetic legs to a company planning to manufacture electric Morris JE vans.
The Prince of Wales at the Wales Investment Summit.(Image: Getty Images)
The prince said: “Wales was the first place Catherine and I made our home together – on the island of Anglesey. When you make a home in Wales, you join a family of three million people, and the sense of warmth and belonging is what makes Wales unlike anywhere else.
“I am pleased to be continuing the work of my father, the King, who over half a century ago, personally encouraged the co-founder of Sony to open its first European factory here in Wales.”
He went on to say: “His leadership in championing Welsh business and innovation is something which I am proud to have the opportunity to continue today.
“Because I believe that we have reached another significant moment for Welsh investment. An opportunity defined not by the challenges we collectively face, but by extraordinary possibility.”es.
The sectors represented by the companies who attended the summit included clean energy, technology, life sciences, financial services, manufacturing and the creative industries.
In Wales there are 1,545 foreign-owned businesses active, employing more than 176,500 people across the nation, according to the Welsh Government.
The prince also highlighted global challenges and how Wales is responding to some of them: “The world is changing rapidly. We face pressures that no one can ignore: accelerating climate change, unprecedented weather disruption and energy insecurity.”
He added: “It is encouraging to see Wales stepping forward as one of the most significant centres of renewable resources in all of Europe.
“Floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, tidal stream energy in the Irish Sea, a Hydrogen Hub in the North and solar power in Pembrokeshire.
“Together, these projects are positioning Wales as one of the world’s most promising clean-energy hubs.”
Earlier William visited the newly opened facility of international semiconductor company KLA in Newport. SPTS, a division of KLA, has operated in Newport for more than 40 years, with the South Wales city being home to its research and development and manufacturing arm.
The prince told delegates, who included Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan: “Technologies designed and built in Wales are already embedded in the smartphones in your pockets as well as sensors, autonomous systems and high-speed networks used across the globe.”
He said it was “testament to the Welsh capacity to compete and lead on the world stage.”