Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:58 pm on 6 March 2019.
Minister, I think it's important that we do look beyond the EU as to where our next markets are, and your strategy will hopefully prioritise those countries very much so. Last night, at the meeting of the cross-party group on STEM, we had Newport Wafer, who were in talking about their expertise, their skills and how many overseas countries and staff wanted to work with them here in the UK and in Wales. Now, it's that type of approach that we need to take. Are you therefore meeting with our businesses here in Wales to see the countries that they are talking to, the countries that they are working with, so we can ensure that we do target the right areas for employment and high-skilled jobs here in Wales?
In relation to the Commonwealth, we met with the New Zealand ambassador when we were in Brussels a couple of weeks ago, and it was quite clear that they have different agendas as well because they recognise the distance between us and New Zealand, and they have an agenda focusing more on the Pacific. So, it's clear that we need to focus upon the businesses that want to come here, the businesses that are working with Welsh businesses, but also markets that are close at hand so that, when we do want to sell, particularly agricultural goods, we have the businesses to sell them to.