It's worth remembering that Welsh is in a stronger position than many languages globally. It's a great concern that so many languages in the world are facing real challenges. Experts estimate that one language dies in the world every other week, and at that rate it is estimated that about half of the 7,000 or so languages in the world today are likely to disappear during the next 100 years. In reflecting on those statistics, it's worth remembering that languages belong to people and communities, and that they're much more than just a means of communication—they are part of the world’s cultural wealth and diversity.

This year provides us with an opportunity, as a nation that has seen a resurgence in efforts to increase the numbers of Welsh speakers, to show others our efforts and to tell our story about how we have implemented language planning in Wales. The year gives us an opportunity also to share our expertise and experience. It also provides us with an opportunity to learn from the experience of other countries and to create new international connections.

But, ultimately, I am keen to show the world that our vision for the Welsh language is both inclusive and broad. That is, we don't just want to protect the Welsh language and culture—we want to increase the use of Welsh, provide a space for its culture to evolve and welcome new people to the language.

Therefore, our objective as a Government through our participation in the year is to provide a platform for us, as a nation, to, first, raise Wales’s international profile as a bilingual nation, and raise Wales’s profile, post Brexit, amongst global international institutions and networks; secondly, to celebrate the history and culture of the Welsh language internationally; and, thirdly, to consolidate Wales as a leading nation for language planning, and to learn, also, from others.

In doing all of this, my intention is to contribute to delivering a key aspect of the Cymraeg 2050 strategy, which is to create favourable conditions for us to reach a million Welsh speakers and to increase the use of Welsh. One of the important elements of creating favourable conditions is to raise awareness and to foster pride in Wales regarding the Welsh language’s place in the world amongst the family of languages. As stated in 'Cymraeg 2050', we want to

'ensure that the Welsh language is an integral part of our efforts to enhance Wales’ relationship with the wider world, and used to welcome and integrate people who move to Wales.'

As the Minister responsible for international relations and the Welsh language, I see a great opportunity to bring both aspects of my portfolio together. I am certain that the Welsh language can benefit from an increased profile internationally, and I also think that Wales can benefit from the fact that we are a bilingual nation, as I mentioned at the World Bank in Washington recently.

It's evident to me that our living bilingualism is a unique selling point for us. Whilst other minority languages exist alongside English in the UK and in Ireland—and we work closely with those Governments through the British-Irish Council—it's obvious that the situation of the Welsh language is different.

So, the key question is, then: how can we take advantage of that unique selling point—the USP? Are there economic opportunities that stem from the fact that we have a bilingual workforce here? Is it possible for us to develop a market as a test bed to develop bilingual and multilingual software, given that the Welsh language co-exists alongside English? That's the basis of our Welsh language technology action plan.

Another aspect of my ambition is to use the year as a way of developing Wales as a minority language champion, by sharing our experience and good practice with other countries. We will do more to celebrate the work that is undertaken in Wales to promote the Welsh language. We are already a member of various international language planning networks, such as the Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity—the NPLD—and the British-Irish Council. But I'm keen to build on that. When I was in the United States, the Welsh Government arranged a seminar in the United Nations with representatives from Quebec, the Basque Country and Flanders. They had a genuine interest in learning from what's happening in Wales, and I am sure there is more that we can continue to learn from the experiences of other countries as well.

I do believe that we have a good story to tell about how we've already developed as a country, through immersion education, nursery education, language planning at a community level, the status of the Welsh language, and the promotional work that's happening with businesses, and so forth. And, of course, we have talented artists in Wales who perform in Welsh. Our artists now have increased opportunities to perform in Welsh across the world. That was the theme of the Mamiaith symposium held in Bethesda in April by our partners in the international year, UNESCO. I would also like to thank our national poet, Ifor ap Glyn, for his poem ‘Lleisio (Voicing)', which he wrote to mark the year.

Earlier this year, Welsh Language Music Day celebrated by streaming a gig that was held here in the Senedd—and I thank the Llywydd for allowing that—live across the world. Also, last Friday in London, the young people of Wales showed that they can use the Welsh language to voice a contemporary message about tackling knife crime, namely this year’s Urdd peace and goodwill message.

Further activities are planned to mark the year over coming months, including the first international partnership of the National Eisteddfod with Ireland and the Fidget Feet company, and an event to close and reflect upon the year.

I am keen to ensuring that this year is a starting point to strengthen the Welsh language’s footprint internationally and to contribute our expertise, our experience and our vision to help the situation of languages across the world.