A WEEK ago we were anxiously and excitedly looking forward to the arrival of President Obama, the first visit of a serving American President to Wales, leading the largest ever group of world leaders to visit the country.

Both the Celtic Manor and the city of Newport did us proud.

The welcome from the people and the efficiency of the organisation, together with the widely recognised international importance of the Nato summit impressed everyone.

For me, seeing Marine One flying over the city and Obama sitting down and talking easily to schoolchildren were moments of both excitement and pride. I was proud that we were hosting and welcoming this event. I even retweeted the front page of the Argus!

Now is the time to not only recognise the hard work and commitment of everyone who was associated with, and worked to make the Nato summit such a success. It is also the time to make real our determination that Wales can host these huge international events and that Wales can play a real and rewarding role on the world stage.

The people of Scotland are taking a decision that will impact upon all of us. I hope that they will vote no and will vote to continue to positively contribute to the union of the United Kingdom. And I hope that the Nato summit will also help to demonstrate that as small nations we can, as a part of the UK, play our part in international and world affairs. And that we are stronger when we do so together.

Wales led and managed and coordinated the summit – but we did so knowing that we could count on the active support from people, public services and organisations across the rest of the UK. And that’s the way it should be.

Now we need to also ensure that we maximise the benefits of hosting the summit. There are already events and activities planned for both the Celtic Manor in terms of investment conferences and business meetings to help ensure that we do realise the potential now available to us.

But we also need to ensure that these benefits are not simply concentrated along the M4 corridor, but across the whole of the south east region. We need to ensure that the whole of the regional economy is connected and integrated and that the economic benefits and opportunities reach the Heads of the Valleys and do not simply stay along the South Wales coast. That’s why projects such as the Metro and the dualling of the A465 and the Superfast Broadband project are so important to us. And that is also why we need to ensure that Wales is not left behind in the debate over Scotland and devolution.

If we are to maximise the economic growth potential of Nato and other events then we need to ensure that Wales has the powers and the structures that can drive forward this new agenda.