International Trade committee  Mr. Holder, I'd like to start by thanking you for your words about Colombia and by just saying that I don't think the critics of the things that were happening in Colombia were just in Canada. I think they were worldwide in many respects, and I think some of the criticism was valid.

International Trade committee  I don't. By that I mean I don't have a sense either way. I mentioned that we have two countries that were observers initially and now have specifically said that they want to join.

International Trade committee  I think that the issue of the free movement of people is essential to the alliance. That is an issue that every country that wants to participate has to tackle in some way. I'm not saying that you have to do this and get rid of that if you want to join, but I'm saying that it is on the table.

International Trade committee  Yes. I thank you for that question. As I mentioned in my opening statements, and I'll try to be brief, this is one issue where we think that Colombia and Canada can definitely work a lot more closely together. There we don't want to threaten any immigration or security policy that Canada has in any way.

International Trade committee  Yes. That's a very good question, a hard question. It's a hard question because I worked many years ago at the Andean Community. I was based in Lima and I spent a few years there. At the time the Andean Community was an example of integration. We managed to multiply trade with our partners in a relatively short period of time.

International Trade committee  Yes, our president, since he was trade minister 20 years ago, has always been a champion of free trade. He believes strongly in free trade. He actually pushed for the first comprehensive trade agreement with our neighbours, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The real consolidation of the Andean Community was done under his watch as trade minister over 20 years ago.

International Trade committee  Look, our position is, and my experience is, that in every free trade agreement, agricultural products are always the most sensitive. Just think of any country, and there's always the category that we don't want to open and touch, agriculture products, with the exception of the ones the country feels that it really has to export because it has a lot to offer.

International Trade committee  I think it's up to Canada to decide if it wants to change its status from observer, where it is very welcome, to something more hands-on. I think it has been good for Colombia and for Latin America that Canada has recently turned more of its attention to Latin America. We're neighbours, and we value the presence of Canada.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Easter. I'm not going to comment on Canada. I will comment on Colombia, which has signed and implemented a number of free trade agreements, some of which have in some aspects—for example, we will receive a lot of foreign investment but perhaps our exports to those countries are not growing as much as our imports....

International Trade committee  No, I mentioned the example of the European Union as a process in which there has been integration in other aspects. The Pacific Alliance is what its leaders decided it would be, a framework to explore a joint effort with Asia and to further integrate the economies because they share the same values.

International Trade committee  Mining and financial services are the key. A number of Canadian companies have been purchasing minority and majority stakes in some financial institutions and looking into others. Aside from mining, we have a big presence of Canadian entities now in the financial services. Mining is definitely the area where you see more investment.

International Trade committee  Thank you. I think Colombia has been looking for a while for an initiative in which to find countries that share some values, such as the rule of law, an open market, more integration, and a harmonizing of rules to benefit and attract foreign investment. We found this in the Pacific Alliance.

International Trade committee  Thank you for your words. As a Colombian, I will tell you that many times in my life I never thought that Colombia would get out of the terrible situation it was in. Every day I am so happy and surprised that we were able to overcome very difficult obstacles, such as violence and respect for human rights, and having control of the territory, in terms of changing the story and making all Colombians try to row in the same direction.

International Trade committee  I remember reading in university many years ago Mr. Bhagwati's writings and reading about the importance of having an international approach. I'm not an economist, but any economist will explain to you that if you have a multilateral approach, theoretically—and that's the problem—you are amending the flow of commerce, and everybody is benefiting.

International Trade committee  Colombia believes in multilateralism. It is a member of the WTO. We have a very strong embassy there. Our government has been ready to advance in that round. It's just doesn't seem as though it's going to happen very soon, but we certainly hope it does.