4. Will the Minister make a statement on the values underpinning the Welsh Government's international relations strategy? OAQ54873

The international strategy will be based upon a clear set of values as outlined in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. At its heart, it will promote the three themes of creativity, sustainability and technology, with the core value of promoting Wales as a globally responsible nation. 

I note your comments to the first international trade dinner of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce just before Christmas. During your speech, you mentioned the focus on data mining and cyber security, trumpeting Wales being the largest cluster for cyber companies in the UK. Now, jobs, particularly in the most deprived parts of our country, are much needed and I recognise that cyber security is a fast-growing sector that will play an increasingly important role in the years to come. But, what I find hard to accept is the Welsh Government funding of cyber security initiatives run by companies involved in the arms trade. Take the £20 million cyber centre that you've established with the French arms manufacturer Thales. This arrangement effectively makes the Government an investor in a company that produces arms for despotic regimes like Saudi Arabia. Thales is also believed to be supplying components for Russian tanks. Do you agree that we should have an ethical responsibility to invest in companies not involved in the business of producing weapons designed to maim and kill? How does that fit in with the Government's policies for well-being of future generations? And if you don't agree that we should have an ethical responsibility, can you explain to this Senedd why not? 

Well, I'm not going to back away from our commitment to support the cyber sector in Wales. It is something that I think we should be really proud of, and the fact that we're developing the cyber centre in Ebbw Vale, an area of massive deprivation, where there is a commitment to help develop an education facility there, there have been events to encourage women, in particular, to enter into the cyber security sector. I think this is something we should be really proud of, and there is, of course, a danger and there's a possibility that there's a link between defence and other areas, but I think you've got to understand that, also, we all need cyber security. We need it for our computers here. Factories need it. You need it to get on an aeroplane. It is something that permeates every aspect of our society, and if you think you can divorce one from the other, I think it's really important that we understand the importance of cyber security for almost every aspect of our lives.

Presiding Officer, my question's a little less bellicose. [Laughter.] If I can turn to Susie Ventris-Field, the chief executive of the Welsh Centre for International Affairs, she's pointed out the wonderful civic record we have in Wales in promoting international peace and solidarity. She cites examples like the message of peace and goodwill from the young people of Wales, which, in the next couple of years, will reach its centenary; the peace appeal that took place in 1924, where 40 per cent of Welsh women signed a petition to the women of America so that they would lobby the American president to join the League of Nations, and that could have led to very different outcomes; and long-standing links between Wales and Somaliland, Uganda, Lesotho and other places; and organisations like the Wales anti-apartheid movement. Clearly, non-governmental organisations and the civic sector in general have played a huge amount informally in our international relations strategy, so, now, in your formal strategy, how will you be involving this vital sector in fulfilling your strategy and developing it in the future?

Thank you. Well, we have had long conversations with the sector, they've certainly been very involved in helping us to develop the strategy, and I do think we should be proud of our record in terms of promoting peace from Wales. As you say, the Urdd's message to the world annually is something that I think we should be really proud of and something that we should be celebrating, certainly when they celebrate that centenary in 2021.

In terms of the other things that we're anxious to develop, Llangollen international festival—we mustn't forget that was initially established with very much a peace message involved with it. That is something I know the First Minister's very keen to see if we can reinvigorate, and we've been speaking to the organisers there to see if that can be put more centre stage once again.

I know also that Mererid Hopwood has made great strides in developing the peace academy now, working with various universities throughout Wales to see what can be done in that space. So, I think there are some really interesting developments here that we could be building on in terms of the kind of messages we will be giving alongside our international strategy.