Twenty members of the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) from 12 countries arrived at the Senedd this week for an event hosted by Clwyd West MS Darren Millar. 

The visitors from UAE, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, UK, Norway, India, Netherlands, Morocco, Indonesia, Guyana, and USA, attended a working dinner with five MSs discussing the themes of politics, devolved government, government reform and cross-party work.

The RCDS instructs promising senior officers of the armed forces, diplomatic service and civil service in national defence and international security matters, to prepare them for top posts.

Their study tour to Wales this year started in Wrexham and having travelled through Wales they finished up in Cardiff on Thursday. 

Commenting after the hosting the event in the Senedd, Darren, who is Chair of the Senedd Cross Party Group on Armed Forces and Cadets, said: 

“It was a real pleasure to welcome the members to the Senedd and I was pleased to hear that they have had such a good tour of Wales.

 “The learning objectives for the study tour were to understand regional governance and its relationship with UK central government, to assess the UK economy at a regional level and how it contributes to the nation’s economy, to develop an understanding of the distinct cultural identities of UK regions, and to analyse the different regional perspectives on key issues facing the UK’s stability, security and prosperity.

“We had an excellent discussion with the members at the dinner, and I hope that our guests left with a greater understanding and appreciation of Wales, our relationship with the rest of UK, and the Senedd.”