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When I stood as a candidate for First Minister of this country I wanted to be ambitious, bold and try something new. I wanted people of this world to know the difference between Wales and England, making us stand out as a different nation as part of the United Kingdom. I wanted opportunities for investment to be expanded across the globe, bringing in money from all over the world, especially in a post Brexit World. The Welsh Government has decided to commit £1.4 million to this project and we hope for much in returns.

That is why I can announce one of my most ambitious plans for this government, the International Statement, Y Datganiad Ryngwladol. This International Strategy has 3 parts to it, all of which I shall go into one by one. First there is Europe, our home continent. We have selected 3 nations to be part of this plan for 3 different reasons, first is Spain, Spain is an EU nation and has many investment opportunities and big businesses are set up in Spain. The reason we have chosen Barcelona however and not Madrid is the similarities between this government and the Catalonian Government, we are both devolved institutions with our own languages and are part of a greater union.

There is then Denmark, again an EU nation, Denmark will be our leading office for Scandinavian Relations, the reason we chose Denmark is because we believe we get the best of both worlds with it being close to Europe and the rest of Scandinavia, this office will build ties with Dansk Industri and we can work together on bringing Danish industries to Wales and boost industries in Wales such as General Dynamics through cooperation. There is then Norway, a non EU member, the purpose of this office is to connect Wales to the rich industries of Norway such as their hydro power and fishing industries. The members of the Senedd may think Norway has no connection to Wales however I can prove that wrong with Swansea itself as the name comes from King Sweyn of Denmark & Norway. Ynys Mon was also briefly part of the Norwegian Empire as well, showing that while brief, there is a past with these nations.

We then move onto Asia, South Korea and Japan are both known for their manufacturing skills, Tayota alone announced a $70 billion global investment plan and we want some of that money to go to Wales. Wales already has a small but valuable aeroplane manufacturing industry but we here at Llafur see this as the beginning. South Korea has a booming electronics industry and with large companies such as Samsung being based in Seoul it will bring Wales to the attention of these companies with these offices encouraging them to invest in Wales. $356 billion was committed by Samsung for international development last year and while a small amount would be committed to Wales it would still provide us with a boost the economy needs and will provide stable jobs in Wales for Wales.

We then have one cultural office in Argentina, the Welsh Government is keen to promote our culture in a place where it has a significant part of history, that being Yr Wladfa. The Welsh Government has supported the Welsh language in Yr Wladfa before and we intend to keep our ties there. A permanent office in Buenos Aires will link the Argentine and Welsh governments together and we can seek further cooperation to embrace Yr Wladfa’s history in both Argentina and Wales.

We will still need to be a union however, I am the leader of Llafur not Plaid Cymru, I intend to respect the sovereignty of the United Kingdom. That is why we will request all of this through Westminster when the next cabinet is appointed by His Majesty. These offices are run out of British Embassies and we intend to keep it that way when talking about this international strategy, we are not making a new state but promoting a nation within that state.

If Westminster goes against the people of Wales however we will be prepared to adapt and overcome this issue, this being through a motion in the Senedd showing we are prepared for this and that Wales wants this. This policy was in the Programme for Government and I intend to honour that. We could’ve gone further and expanded into nations in Africa however this is a good starting point for Wales, one I hope future First Ministers take advantage of.

Diolch yn fawr i’r llywydd a’r aelodau’r Senedd.

Debate on this statement will end on the 13th October at 10pm BST.