First Minister Rhodri Morgan, Middle East royals and me

(left to right) Alun Jones, British Ambassador Derek Plumbly and Rhodri Morgan standing, with a staff member from the British Embassy sitting, looking at an escarpment outside Riyadh

With climate change and global warming at the top of news agendas, the world's biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has pledged to cut its carbon emissions to net zero by 2060. When the late Rhodri Morgan, as Wales' first minister, led a trade mission to Saudi Arabia and Dubai in October 2002, Alun Jones was one of two Welsh government officials that accompanied him. Now a BBC journalist, he looks back at the trip.

"I've only had time to flick through the briefing, but I'll read it thoroughly on the plane," said the first minister at Heathrow airport.

Fast forward, and there we were on the plane, Rhodri by the window, and me beside him.

On his lap he had a pile of newspapers and magazines he'd just picked up. Between reading those, eating and sleeping I could see time slipping away.

I knew saying "I think you should prioritise reading the briefing" wouldn't work, and would probably annoy him. I didn't want to do that at the start of an intense trip.

So I turned to a section about things that would insult the hosts and said "it'll be a miracle if we come away without upsetting them". He took the bait, read that section and then the whole file. Job done.

Since 11 September 2001 several Western countries had cut back on trade missions to the Gulf States, but Rhodri Morgan said in a written statement about this trip that his government "firmly believes there is a gap in the market"

One of the social custom guides in the briefing folder, reflecting Foreign Office thinking and terminology at that time, set alarm bells ringing.

It advised: "Do not present the sole of your foot to an Arab. This is a calculated insult because the sole of the foot in the Arab world is considered to be unclean."

During meetings in his offices in Cathays Park or Tŷ Hywel, Rhodri would often have outstretched legs or an ankle resting on a knee. The guide continues "equally, do not sit rigidly - feet glued to the floor - and fear to move".

This didn't prove a problem for him during this trade mission. As the guide says, "the Arab will take to an easy outgoing personality". He certainly had that.

The Saudi capital Riyadh had a population of 4.5 million at the time - there are now around 3 million more living there

One custom did prove problematic. "Always accept coffee or tea when offered. You will be usually given sweet milkless tea followed by Arabic coffee in small, traditional, handleless cups. It is polite to accept two cups of coffee; to accept only one is an insult. When you do not want anymore, gently shake the cup before handing it back to the pourer. If you fail to do this, you will be given a further cup".

But he'd had enough coffee after the first of four successive meetings on the first full day. In the second meeting he only had one coffee, forgot about shaking the cup and just put his hand over it when the pourer approached. He refused coffees in the other meetings. If they were insulted, they politely hid it.

He did kick himself after one comment, given that the consumption of pork is prohibited in Islam.

The devastating impact of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease the previous year came up in conversation.

He later wished he hadn't mentioned pigs while comparing how easy it was to spot symptoms of foot and mouth in various animals. The prince didn't respond, but stared into the distance as if visualising a diseased pig.

Millions of animals were slaughtered and incinerated during the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak in the UK

During the two and a half days in Riyadh he met members of the Royal Family, - (if you're wondering, Governor of Riyadh, Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, Prince Abdulla bin Faisal bin Turki Al-Abdullah Al-Saud) - commerce and planning ministers (Usamah Faqih and Khalid bin Muhammad al-Qusaibi respectively) and senior members of the business community.

The briefing folder also advises, "do not express admiration for something belonging to your host. This is bad manners and can be taken as asking for it as a gift. Your host is quite likely to insist that you keep it". No problem, although it was very tempting to put that to the test!

However, the briefing did not envisage another scenario involving gifts.

In each meeting, we'd leave a wrapped gift of a coffee table-style book on Wales and each host reciprocated with a gift. But one clearly hadn't expected a gift, so when the first minister handed it over, officials suddenly scurried out of the room.

There was an awkward silence until they returned with a large picture of a Saudi landscape which they just took off the wall in the hallway. They then arranged for it to be shipped to Wales.

He also attended a meeting with Saudi alumni of the University of Wales. "You all have the potential to be enthusiastic and outstanding ambassadors for Wales" he told them.

"Shw'mae Dubai?" said the first minister in greeting the Dubai Welsh Society

The first minister's two and a half day visit to Dubai was hosted by Sheikh Juma Al Maktoum, one of the senior members of the Royal Family in that part of the United Arab Emirates - first cousin and brother-in-law to Sheikh Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and defence minister of the UAE.

Rhodri was guest of honour at an evening reception hosted by the Dubai Welsh Society. He greeted them by saying he was tempted to attempt a world record for the shortest speech - "Shw'mae Dubai, goodbye!"

The seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel was the location of one meeting in Dubai, but staying there was way over budget

We had a tour of impressive projects at the Internet City and Media City, and the astonishing Palm Island project to build an artificial island in the shape of a palm tree - it became the third man made object to be visible from outer space. We also went on a fishing trip lasting several hours - I'm not sure why!

The first minister had been briefed by the Foreign Office on the state of the Middle East peace process and the situation in neighbouring Iraq. "Lines to take" included "military action is not inevitable" and "we cannot allow Saddam Hussein's WMD [weapons of mass destruction] ambitions to go unchecked". However, the subject did not come up during official meetings. His hosts clearly understood he was leading a trade mission.

The briefing notes say that in Dubai "there is a keen interest in balancing economic development and care for the environment", but I recall the strong emphasis being on the former.

Business cards were usually in Welsh and English, but for this trip Arabic replaced Welsh

Nine Welsh companies took part in the trade mission and the first minister later told the Welsh assembly members, as they were then called, "the visit has identified considerable potential business gains for Wales".

He added, "I have brought back some clear messages, including the huge potential represented by the fast growing Middle East market and the can do approach to developing major industrial and tourism projects within relatively short periods of time".

The Welsh government press team did not seek publicity about this trade mission at the time, and the photo at the escarpment is the only one I know of from the trip. It was a time before camera phones and social media became ubiquitous, and royal palaces and grand hotels were not opportunities to enhance Rhodri's "man of the people" image.

Nevertheless, my abiding memory is that he really was at ease talking to anyone - from regulars at Riverside market to Riyadh's royals.

Rhodri Morgan leaving the Senedd chamber as he stepped down as a member in 2011

Working in First Minister Rhodri Morgan's private office was a very happy time in my career.

Facts and figures

Wales - UAE

In 2020, goods trade between Wales and UAE was valued at £484.6m, of which exports were £286.4m and imports were £198.2m.

In 2020, UAE was the 10th largest export market for Wales accounting for 2.1% of goods exports, and the 18th largest source of imports accounting for 1.4% of total goods imports to Wales.

Wales - Saudi Arabia

In 2020, goods trade between Wales and Saudi Arabia was valued at £258.1m, of which exports were £79.6m and imports were £178.5m.

In 2020, Saudi Arabia was the 27th largest export market for Wales accounting for 0.6% of goods exports, and the 19th largest source of imports accounting for 1.3% of total goods imports to Wales.