2. Will the Minister make a statement on what progress Hybu Cig Cymru have made in developing markets for Welsh red meat beyond the EU? OAQ53244

Thank you. Welsh Government is investing £1.5 million for HCC to maintain European markets, and develop trade further afield. As a direct result, new business has been secured in Singapore. I welcome recent announcements of the lifting of restrictions on importing UK beef and lamb to Japan, and lamb to India and Saudi Arabia, where further HCC activity is planned.

I'm pleased to report in that context that, last week, I wrote to the Minister following a meeting I had with an Omani businessman, who is interested in importing Welsh beef and lamb to Oman. As we're looking to diversify our exporting markets, does the Minister welcome this, and will she arrange for whoever is appropriate to meet with them, to facilitate this mutually beneficial trade?

Thank you. I certainly have had sight of your letter. I thought I had signed a letter back to you, telling you what action I planned, and I think that was to arrange a meeting with HCC, to see if there were opportunities to take that forward.

It’s very interesting to see new markets being developed across the world whilst we are still members of the European Union. And any talk of opportunities of leaving the European Union is empty talk, and we know just how many opportunities there are for the meat industry, for the food industry more widely, and the rural economy more widely, to be part of European structures, including the structural funds. I have seen new research released today by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions—the body that the Government here in Wales is part of—that says that Wales faces losing out on huge sums from the regional structural funds in coming years. They estimate that, if the UK were to remain within the European Union, it would qualify for £13 billion of regional funding between 2021 and 2027, which is 22 per cent of an increase as compared to the period between 2014-20. Does the Minister agree with me, therefore, that this strengthens once again the argument for having a people’s vote, in order to have the chance to make the case for maintaining this for our rural industries?

I'm not quite sure where developing markets for Welsh red meat comes into that question, but I absolutely agree with you about the amount of funding that we will lose. And across my portfolio, you'll be aware of the significant EU funding that comes in. I was just looking at a LIFE project before, and about the funding that those sorts of projects has brought into Wales, and the benefits to our environment. So we're still hopeful that we're certainly not going to have a 'no deal'—we think 'no deal' should be off the table. But even with the deal that was proposed by the Prime Minister, I think this will have a dreadful impact on our jobs and economy.