I personally wish to congratulate all the organizers for their hard work in putting these particular events together. What is clearly evident to me is that the quality and relevance of services being offered to Chamber members by your Executive is steadily increasing. Maintaining and further enhancing these high standards will be the ongoing challenge for the newly-elected Board of Directors who is shortly to select the 2005-06 Executive of the Chamber. Good luck to all. 

Something that may have well gone unnoticed by many of you was the release in April of Canada's 'International Policy Statement', the long-awaited examination and updating of The Government of Canada's foreign, defense, commerce and development policy positions that will govern how we relate to the world over the next decade. For those interested, the full text of the Statement may be found on the Government of Canada website. The document is naturally general in tone; however, it does set out our official approaches to various international partners, including to Latin America and the Caribbean. I want to paraphrase for you the text that pertains to Canada's commercial relationship with Ecuador and the region:
 
"Canadians have many historical, cultural and personal ties to Central and South America and the Caribbean. The development of regional trade and market groupings has driven Canadian companies - already active in resource sectors - to seek new opportunities in the region. Trade and investment ties with the Americas are a significant element in Canada's commerce strategy, especially as Brazil's powerful economy grows and diversifies.
 
"Canadian companies have long been present in the region, but are limited in numbers. NAFTA's success has helped inspire additional Canadian exporters and investors to venture further south, and the Free Trade Agreements that Canada has signed with Chile and Costa Rica have accelerated this trend. But we are still missing opportunities that our neighbours are seizing. Mexico is highly integrated into these economies, and the United States has recognized new opportunities in the Caribbean basin and Central America. Canada need to keep pace, or our business will lose ground to competitors in these growing regional value chains.
 
"The Government will step up its commercial efforts in support of Canadian business. The Government already maintains a full suite of business development services in Latin America and the Caribbean, and we conduct high-profile trade missions ....Free trade negotiations with the Central American Four countries ... are well advanced and we hope to conclude an agreement in the near future. We will work to implement the Prime Minister's commitment to undertake free trade agreements with the 15 members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). We are also exploring the possibility of negotiations with the Dominican Republic and the five nations of the Andean Community: Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. 
 
"Our interests in Latin America and the Caribbean depend on the peace, political stability and economic property of the region. For this reason, Canada's top trade policy objective in the region remains the Free Trade of the Americans (FTAA), which involves the 34 democratic countries of the hemisphere and is an integral part of the broader Summit of the Americas process. The FTAA would build on Canada's existing free trade ties and holds the potential to create the world's largest free trade area - more than 845 million people and a combined gross domestic product of $18.8 trillion. We support the continuing efforts of the US and Brazilian co-chairs of the FTAA process to resolve the issues outstanding and resume negotiations."
 
As the above suggests, Ecuador is not necessarily the 'centre of the universe' for strategic trade and investment policy thinkers in Ottawa. However, the potential of the region is clearly recognized, and through our collective efforts on the ground we can enhance and advance the commercial relationship in impressive ways - one transaction at a time.
 
Brian Oak 
Ambassador