Part of 2. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure – in the Senedd at 1:33 pm on 21 June 2017.
Absolutely. It’s quite timely, as, last week, I listened to Jason Mohammad give a speech in north Wales, where he talked about his pride on the evening of the Champions League final in his city, the city that he grew up in. In fact, he was an Ely boy. And it struck me that the event not only served to encourage economic prosperity, but also to enhance pride in our capital city and in our nation. I understand and appreciate that some businesses in Cardiff, and some residents in Cardiff, will have been limited in terms of how they could move about the city and in terms of how many people they could attract to their premises and their facilities. However, the economic impact is estimated to be £45 million to the capital region. There are many legacy projects that have stemmed from the event.
And I think it’s fair to say that it was a monumental success. In the lead-in to the event, there were concerns expressed about transport, logistics, security, communications, but we delivered, and we delivered well. And it’s now my hope that we can build on what was an unprecedented, or, actually, the biggest sporting event this year, anywhere on the planet, by attracting more world-class events to Wales and by ensuring that we celebrate what makes Wales great, which is our warmth and our welcome.