1. What action is the Welsh Government taking to increase the value of exports to countries outside the European Union? OAQ52714

We've long had a suite of support services designed to help Welsh companies to export their goods and services to all markets, both inside and outside of the European Union, and these will continue to be available after we leave the EU.

Thank you very much for the reply, First Minister. Welsh Government figures show that exports from Wales to the European Union, for the year ending 2018, increased by 6.8 per cent, compared to the previous year. However, export to non-EU countries increased only by 0.3 per cent. Given the failure of Welsh Government to diversify its export destinations, what action will you take to take advantage of the trading opportunities presented by Brexit? And will you follow the recommendation of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee and appoint a trade Minister to sell Wales to the world, please?

Well, I remain to be convinced of what trade opportunities exist post Brexit. For example, if you look at the top five export markets that we have, the top is Germany, second France, third the USA, fourth Ireland, fifth the Netherlands. Now, four of those countries are in the EU. If we look further down to the top 10, then we find a situation where eight are either in the EU or the customs union. Now, clearly, these are our major export markets. They are markets that we must seek to protect while at the same time looking to expand our markets elsewhere, which is why, of course, we've opened, and are in the process of opening, more offices around the world, in order to raise Wales's profile abroad.

First Minister, whilst it's true that, currently, the majority of Wales's goods exports go to the EU, the growth prospects, regardless of Brexit, are not promising. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund have all downgraded EU gross domestic product growth forecast to around 1.5 per cent, whereas China will see growth five to 10 times higher than that. So, what specific steps is your Government taking to capitalise on our growing trade with China and ensure that China becomes one of our major export markets for goods and services?

Well, China comes in at No. 11 in terms of the countries that we export to. We have, of course, three offices in China—looking to open another one—and their job is to promote links in every way between Wales and China. We will look to expand Wales's presence in every market around the world, including that market that is closest to us—the European market.