The Rugby World Cup in Japan

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 3:01 pm on 18 September 2019.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 3:01, 18 September 2019

Thank you for that answer, Minister. I have to say, it must have bypassed me, I didn't realise we had a dome in Japan. I'm sure we're all waiting with bated breath for the pictures of that dome when it arrives on those shores. But, what is key is that, at the end of this process, we don't just say, 'Welsh Government spent x and sent y number of people out there.' We need to measure how successful we've been.

It's pleasing to hear that the food and drinks promotion is already showing dividends, but in developing these strategies for promotion around the rugby world cup, who have you engaged to support that development of the strategy, so that we do know that we're getting the biggest bang for our buck? Because many other countries will be using it as a platform to promote their wares, and what's vitally important, as the WDA used to do, is make Wales stand out on a very cluttered stage indeed. So, have you engaged fully with the honorary consul here, for example, for Japan, and Japanese companies in particular that are based here who can give us that internal expertise about how to deal with Japanese culture, so that we can get doors opening for the companies we're looking to send out there?