5. Statement by the Minister for Economy: Qatar World Cup Engagement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:58 pm on 15 November 2022.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 3:58, 15 November 2022

Thank you for the comments and a series of questions. I'll try to do as many of them as promptly as I can, seeing the Dirprwy Lywydd's beady eyes looking at me.

In terms of the spend of the trips and the details, we regularly publish, with every overseas visit that Ministers undertake, a written statement outlining the programme of activities and who has attended. We always publish the details of cost. That comes out in a range of forms. So, the cost won't be hidden. And in terms of the difference Ministers make, it's part of what we're doing in being proportionate. There are choices that lead Ministers make about whether they think that an overseas visit will make sense, and then the First Minister will need to sign off that he agrees that is a good use of time and resource. We made the choice that Ministers attending the two biggest games in the group stage is a good use of Ministers' time. That goes into your point about what our ambassadors will be doing when it comes to the operation of Lleisiau Cymru and how Ministers will add to that.

I think it's hard to understate the extraordinary level of media attention there will be in Qatar for teams that are there. They will have a multiplicity of voices with different issues to want to talk about and highlight. And of course, sports diplomacy and the interests of the wider sporting world—not just football but a range of others—will be important to us. Ministers will get access to different opportunities to meet people in different Governments and different stakeholders that not everyone else will be able to do. That, I think, makes a difference. And that does underscore why the choices were made by the Government to attend two of the group games. We'll have, I hope, a positive problem to address after the group stage, if Wales are into the knockouts. I'd much rather be talking about our continued success in the tournament.

When it comes, again, to the partner support fund itself, we are, of course, as indeed are our partners, going to maximise the impact of that spend, not just to demonstrate that the money has been spent in accordance with the projects, but then to understand the impact of that. I fully expect, not just in terms of the returns that we will want to see from the Government point of view, but Members have an entirely reasonable and legitimate interest in understanding what that impact has been at various points in time, because, for some of these, there will be an immediate impact in terms of the activity that's been building some of the excitement. For example, the Urdd jamboree is not something I think you'll say, 'Well, what will be the impact of that in six months' time?' but it is an important part of the sense of togetherness in a global event that none of us have experienced in our lifetime—looking around the room—and that any of us can recall.

The broader point, then, though, that, in some areas, you'll need to look at a longer time frame to see the impact of all the spend and the decisions that are made, and the Member will understand this too. That also goes to some of the points about digital marketing. We did offer a briefing for subject committees, but I appreciate that there's not always a lot of time available. We're more than happy to make sure that we share the marketing that is going out so that you can see some of the examples of what's being put out into different parts of the world. As well, of course, I hope that Members got to see 'This is Wales' online—the 'This is Wales' account on social media and some of the 'Welcome to Wales' content that's going out. Having seen some of the efforts that other countries are putting out, I think ours stands up very well in being a really positive window into Wales, as it should be.

When it comes to our ambassadors, in particular we're interested in the footballing world, the business world, food and drink, and it's really helpful that Bryn Williams, the renowned chef, is there—big opportunities in the region and wider. And, of course, the culture squad that we had, and Mace the Great, who, I should point out, Dirprwy Lywydd, to declare an interest, is a Splott boy, but they're not all constituents of mine. But, we've got a range of people who are on the cusp, I think, of real, international significance, and, again, showing the variety of our offer here in Wales, and some of it we could only do by being in the country as well as our activity elsewhere. Of course, there will also be some interesting conversations, I'm sure, around UEFA 2028, where there's been a previous public statement on the fact that there is a potential joint bid between all of the UK nations and the Republic of Ireland as potential hosts for that tournament.

When it comes to sport and promoting sport as an economic asset, we'll continue to consider the future of sporting events and whether we need a specific strategy as distinct from our major events strategy, which we're just in the process of recommissioning, a future approach, and the Member has spoken about that previously. We've launched our events strategy for the future as well, and I want to make sure that we're doing things that are consistent whilst learning from the opportunities of this significant event in front of 5 billion people.