Anglesey and Celtic freeports job hopes 'downgraded'
Plaid Cymru's Luke Fletcher criticised the pace of change at the Anglesey freeport as well as the Celtic freeport based around Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire.
Mr Fletcher said people were promised transformative economic benefits, tens of thousands of jobs, billions in investment and a green revolution – "but years on, we are still waiting".
"That's a fact, that's a reality," the shadow economy secretary warned.
"Now, if freeports are meant to be a cornerstone of our economic strategy, then we need to actually understand exactly what we're getting and, right now, there's a huge lack of clarity and credibility."
Freeports, originally a Conservative UK Government policy, offer tax breaks in an effort to boost business.
Mr Fletcher said an initial promise of 20,000 jobs by 2030 was revised down to 17,000 on the Welsh Government's website, a decrease of 15 per cent.
He added that the Celtic freeport was downgraded by 31per cent from a promise of 16,000 jobs to nearer 11,000 today.
"All we've seen from the Celtic freeport so far are strategies, frameworks and meetings: no clear delivery, no major employment, no visible change," he said.
Rebecca Evans, Wales' economy secretary, told Senedd members it remains early days with "an awful lot" of work going on behind the scenes and the freeports only open for business for a matter of months.
Samuel Kurtz, the Conservatives' shadow secretary, welcomed the Celtic and Anglesey freeports but raised concerns about sites in England such as Teesside being further along.
He also hailed "significant" progress at Wales' two investment zones – based on advanced manufacturing in Wrexham and Flintshire, and semiconductors in Newport and Cardiff.
In her statement, Ms Evans said the Welsh Government has agreed full business cases for both freeports and the final agreement with UK ministers was close to completion.
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