The proposed locations for the zones, which will be funded by £10m from the UK government, include Cardiff, Ynys Mon, Ebbw Vale, Deeside and St Athan. 

The industries that the Welsh government proposes to target include the financial services, energy, automotives, advanced manufacturing and aerospace sectors.

Deeside has been earmarked as the zone for advanced manufacturing.

Carys Edwards, finance director for Grapho Media, a Deeside-based commercial web printer, said: "The manufacturing sector in North Wales has had it incredibly tough; there has been a steady decline over the past few decades but the period between 2008 and 2009 saw a steep drop in quality jobs, which disappeared as manufacturing sites shut down. Grapho Media is based on Deeside industrial estate where there a lot of vacant units and I think anything that encourages inward investment is to be applauded."

The enterprise zones initiative, which was unveiled by George Osborne in the March budget, aims to create small areas where tax breaks and reduced planning regulations will attract new businesses and create jobs.

A letter by Welsh business minister Edwina Hart to national assembly members revealed that the government plans to take a bespoke approach to each location rather than replicate the approach taken in England.

Hart wrote: "As part of our economic policy agenda we will be introducing Enterprise Zones in Wales. However, let me be clear from the outset, this is not a replication of previous Enterprise Zones, which evaluation has shown had very mixed results. We will take a bespoke approach to each location and will deploy a selective approach to the policy interventions, using some in some locations and not in others. This is because we need to get best value from the very modest consequential funding of approximately £10m from the UK government."