4. What engagement does the Minister have with overseas countries who have citizens and people living in Wales? OAQ55027

International engagement takes many forms. Since taking up post, I have met with foreign ambassadors in Cardiff and in London, many of whom have large numbers of citizens in Wales. Last week, I hosted an event to celebrate the Chinese new year with the deputy ambassador and the Chinese community here in Wales.

Well, thank you for that. Just before Christmas, I had the pleasure of joining the festive fun as a guest at the Wrexham Polish integration support centre's Christmas party, and I've been invited to their Polish Heritage Day on 9 May. In 2017, the Polish embassy in London introduced a Polish Heritage Day to the calendar of regular events across the UK, with over 40 events initially planned, supported by Polish consulates in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. What engagement, if any, does the Welsh Government have with this agenda thus far and, if not, will you be interested in becoming engaged as this goes forward?    

Thank you. Well, I'm very interested in particular in linking up with the Polish community, because it's one of our biggest diaspora communities in Wales. I certainly underlined that to the Polish ambassador when I met him in London recently. So, rather than waiting for them to come to Wales now, part of what I'm trying to do is to go to London, invite them to come to us, so that we can give them those clear messages. One of the things you'll see in the international strategy is we're going to be celebrating a different community every year and, certainly, one of the ones that I would want to be celebrating is the Polish community. As it happens, we're inviting the German national disapora, which is one of our largest diaspora in Wales, to come and join us to meet with the ambassador next week.