3. Statement by the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language: International Strategy

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:19 pm on 14 January 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 3:19, 14 January 2020

Diolch, Darren, and thanks for your continuing interest in the international work that we undertake. I'm glad that you acknowledge that we need to strengthen and deepen our relationship with the EU and the nations and regions of the European Union, irrespective of the fact that we will now be leaving. Thank you also for drawing attention to the fact that we have emphasised three sectors that we're anxious to promote, and this is really because we're in a world where there's a lot of competition for attention, so you have to work out how you're going to stand out—what makes us distinctive, and I think these three sectors certainly do that for us.

Our sporting prowess is something that we should be very proud of, and I think we did a really good job in Japan, and there is a challenge now to see what we can do in the European championships. If we're honest, I don't think Azerbaijan is a huge market for us, but we will certainly be focusing a campaign in Italy, so that's something we will be looking forward to doing. Obviously, we'll wait to see who we'll be playing against, and there'll be opportunities perhaps to bounce off the back of that.

Human rights, I know, is something that you have a great interest in. There is an annex in the back that has a section on human rights, but what we're trying to do here is to really make sure that people understand that Wales wants to present itself as a fair nation. And fair play I see as the rights agenda, and I think it's really important that we underline that. When I meet ambassadors from around the world, if there are human rights issues, then I'm never shy to raise those issues with them.

I think in terms of faith communities, certainly, if you look at the number of organisations and faith organisations that are engaged in work with Africa, one of the things we've done is to try and map out who those people are and what they're doing, and, certainly, the Hub Cymru Africa is a great forum for that to happen. And I think also in terms of the tourism work in relation to faith, well I know that this year is 100 years since the establishment of the Church in Wales, and that their focus is on pilgrimage, and so there may be an opportunity there, and, certainly, that's something that maybe I'll speak to the Deputy Minister for tourism about. Certainly, what I don't want is that we preclude other areas in relation to Africa. So, obviously people can get on with their work in terms of developments and relationships with developing countries, but in terms of the suggestion that we reach out and expand it beyond Africa, what we've found is that, actually, with very small resources, if you want to make an impact, it makes more sense to focus, and that's why we've taken that approach. Maybe we'll have different opinions about that, but that's the decision that we've taken.

In terms of Welsh Government offices, we have appointed an overall manager now to make sure that we are monitoring those offices. I think they do a very good job, but what we haven't had, perhaps, and what the Assembly perhaps hasn't had, is the feedback. Certainly, that's something that we are feeding in more regularly now to the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee, so they'll be getting those on a more regular basis to just get a better sense of what those offices are undertaking.

Our relationship with the United States is really crucial. I'll be heading out there towards the end of February. There are 1,250 foreign companies who invest in Wales and a quarter of those are American, so we are absolutely clear about how important that relationship is.

On the relationship with trade envoys, there are great relationships that already exist. I know that the Welsh Assembly sends people around the world on occasion. What I'd like to do is to make sure that there's an opportunity for those Assembly Members to sing from the hymn sheet that is the Welsh Government hymn sheet and the Welsh people's hymn sheet, and that's something that we'll be looking at doing in future.

On the ambassadors, we're looking at what we can do in the space of diaspora, so that's something that we're exploring further. So, I hope that's cleared some of those issues up.