3. Statement by the First Minister: Delivering the International Strategy

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:26 pm on 11 November 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 3:26, 11 November 2020

The leader of the opposition asked about inter-governmental relations. Well, I'm not going to rehearse, this afternoon, Llywydd, the very many disappointments there have been in persuading the UK Government to set up inter-governmental relations within the United Kingdom. Let me be positive instead and say that we work very closely with the UK Government when promoting Wales abroad. We've always had a very good service from embassies abroad when Welsh Ministers are involved in meetings, trade delegations, and other ways of promoting Wales in other parts of the world. I've had the privilege, in the last two years, to represent Wales in St David's Day events in both Brussels and in Paris. On both of those occasions, we had very strong and positive engagement with the UK Government, using embassy premises and contacts in both those European capitals, and on this agenda, unlike some others, I think we can say that our efforts are there to supplement some of the things that the United Kingdom does, but also to speak up directly for Wales.

One of the things I think that the leader of the opposition would find is that businesses in Wales particularly look to the Welsh Government to do those things that help them to find markets for their products and new economic opportunities that come to people who work in Wales by promoting Wales in everything it does. When I was in Japan as part of the Rugby World Cup, there was a trade mission from Wales in Japan at the same time. We had a major event at the embassy in Tokyo, hosted by the UK ambassador, jointly with myself. We had literally hundreds of people at the reception, representing Japanese economic opportunities for Wales, and that's the way in which our international strategy sees us operating alongside those Welsh business interests.

We've underused the diaspora here in Wales, Llywydd. I don't think there's any doubt about that. I was the keynote speaker at the Belfast homecoming event in October of last year. Hundreds and hundreds of people of Irish descent, now prominent in the United States, coming home to Belfast—again, a celebration of cultural links but business opportunities. We've worked closely since with people who have helped the Northern Irish administration to make the most of its diaspora and want to take those opportunities now to do more here in Wales.

On health activity, I'm very pleased that we've been able to sign, this week, a new memorandum of understanding with the World Health Organization, again, making sure that the things that we can offer in the world are matched by the learning we take from the world in return, particularly in the field of health.

And as for deforestation, well of course the Welsh Government works very closely with the organisations that Paul Davies identified. It is through those organisations that we have developed the Mbale tree planting scheme, to which I referred in my opening remarks—10 million trees planted already in that part of Uganda. Again, I had the real privilege, before the coronavirus crisis began, of planting a tree here in Cardiff to mark that 10 millionth tree being planted in Uganda, and to see the young people with whom we are in partnership in that part of the world, the huge enthusiasm they bring to that project and the way in which their knowledge of Wales is absolutely part of their everyday experience. Llywydd, that's just one example of the work we are doing in that area. That's our contribution to the issue of climate change and deforestation. And there is more, I'm sure, that we will want to do in the future, including in the areas to which Paul Davies referred.