Rhodri Morgan: Welcomed jobs

Meanwhile in a £3.4m investment and a move into the old Faurecia premises on the Tafarnaubach Industrial Estate, Tredegar, Desklink is set to create 75 new jobs.

And in a separate development Mr Morgan launched the new £90 million BT, Ignite Internet Data Centre in Cardiff - Wales' first major data centre.

It is a timely boost for an area hard hit by this summer's swingeing losses in the steel industry and the closure of the Ebbw Vale works.

It also follows the news last week of 350 job losses at the GE aero engine plant further down the south Wales Valleys at Nantgarw near Caerphilly.

'Major companies'

Both of these expansions and the BT expansion in Cardiff all been made possible by Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grants from the assembly designed to fuel regional inward investment.

"The RSA scheme is enabling us to grant aid three projects which are each in their own way vital to the Welsh economy," said Mr Morgan.

"We have been able to help secure the futures of two major companies in Blaenau Gwent and invest in a mega project which will support or drive forward investment and help Welsh companies to develop their e-commerce potential."

Abertillery jobs: UKSE's Jonathan Fogg with John Frost and Derek Illingworth of RF Shielding

Further expansion in the area has already been confirmed by RF Shielding in Abertillery, which is making a £600,000 investment with the help of business backers UK Steel Enterprise (UKSE) and plans to double its workforce of 50 in the next year.

The BT data centre in Cardiff will dramatically improve South Wales's telecoms infrastructure - and hasten the arrival of high speed internet links.

Two hundred jobs will be created when the first centre of its kind in Wales is up and running in Cardiff Bay's booming Celtic Gateway Business Park by the end of next year.

In May, Welsh Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan announced a £66m aid package to help rebuild the steel communities affected by the Corus closures.