The first minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan, is set to lead a new bid to promote Wales to the wider world

The first minister begins a 14-day tour of Australia and Singapore on Tuesday, where he aims to improve trade links and explore new market opportunities.

The trade mission, organised by WalesTrade International, is also open to eligible companies which could have half of their hotel and airfare costs met.

"This is an excellent opportunity for Welsh companies to broaden their export horizons and explore new markets and opportunities," said the first minister.

"Advances such as e-commerce via the internet make the world smaller by the day and there is no reason why trading in Australia and Singapore should not be considered an option by many business and organisations."

Australia, which has a population of around 19 million, is the UK's third largest market in the Asia-Pacific region and is well situated to enable the targeting of other key markets such as China and Japan, says Morgan.

Wales already has links to one key Australian state, with a memorandum of understanding focussing on education, science and the arts being reaffirmed by Morgan and New South Wales premier Bob Carr in June 2000.

WalesTrade International said it would be able to "maximise the networking opportunities" of companies that join the delegation, through its links to the British consul-general in Sydney, the British High Commission in Singapore and the WTI regional office in Singapore.