First Minister Carwyn Jones has sent his first St David’s Day message to everyone who is celebrating our national day in Wales and around the world.

Today the First Minister will be presenting UN Gold Star Awards to Welsh communities who have built links with communities in Africa and honoured for their contribution towards making poverty history, building friendships and broadening horizons.

The First Minister will also join Cllr Rodney Berman, the leader of Cardiff Council to host a St David’s Day dinner at Cardiff City Hall.

In his message, he says: “I am delighted to send my first St David’s Day greetings as First Minister of Wales to everyone for March 1st and I welcome the celebrations taking place across the world for Wales’ National Day.

“This is an exciting and challenging time to be First Minister. Our country has achieved a great deal in just over ten years of devolution and we would like to welcome people to see for themselves what we have to offer.

“2010 is set to be another great year for international sport in Wales. In July last year, our capital city of Cardiff played host to the historic first Ashes test match to be held outside England or Australia – hailed as a triumph for Wales.

“This year it is the turn of golf. In October, we host one of the world’s largest sporting events, The Ryder Cup, at The Celtic Manor Resort in Newport. The event will take place on the first Ryder Cup course that is purpose built for players and spectators – and we are expecting thousands of visitors to travel to Wales to experience at first hand golf’s most prestigious competition.

“We are also very proud of our culture and heritage. Last year, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in North East Wales, which dates from 1805 and one of Thomas Telford’s greatest civil engineering achievements, became Wales’ third UNESCO World Heritage site.

“Wales is known for having one of the finest Impressionist and Post Impressionist art collections in Europe and since March 2009, a collection of more than 50 impressionist masterpieces from the National Museum of Wales has been on tour around the United States and is currently on display at the Corcoran Art Galley in Washington DC.

"Wales is one of the few countries in the world where sustainable development is a core responsibility for our government and I was proud to represent Wales at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit last December.

“Over the last year we have made further progress in delivering our commitment. In May we published our sustainable development scheme, One Wales: One Planet, setting out our commitment to become a one planet nation, only using our fair share of resources to sustain our lifestyles.

" In May this year, we will launch Towards Zero Waste, our ambitious recycling plan, which will set a 70% target for recycling and composting household waste by 2025.

“Wales is a confident nation and we are well placed to emerge from the global recession as a tougher nation, prepared for the upturn and using our talent for innovative thinking to fashion a greener economy.

“We look forward to welcoming the world to Wales during 2010. I wish you all a happy St David’s Day. Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus i bawb!"