Thank you for the question, colleague.
One initiative that is noteworthy.... Well, perhaps there are two initiatives that are noteworthy in terms of regional cooperation. The first one is the Dubai process. Last year when I had the opportunity to come to speak with the members of this committee, I outlined the work Canada was engaged in to bring Pakistan and Afghanistan authorities together. You know that they have an important border between the two countries, but they don't have any infrastructure, don't have any way of managing that border. And so at the very outset, we engaged both parties, to bring them to the table to speak with each other, to recognize the importance of this issue. As time moved on, we were able to get them into not only a dialogue but into actionable items that eventually will serve, I think, the purpose of better managing the border between the two countries.
As well, one of the initiatives that stem from the G-8 foreign ministers' meeting that took place in the month of March here was the Afghan-Pakistan border prosperity initiative. This initiative, colleague, was put forward in order to strengthen the economic conditions in certain areas of Pakistan.
The World Bank had a number of feasibility projects between both these countries, whether feasibility projects to look at rail linkages between two communities or projects to look at highway infrastructure. The whole idea here is to make sure that the inhabitants of these regions can prosper from economic development and growth and can get out of the dire situation in which they find themselves.
Both governments bought into this process. Both governments recognized the importance of working in a collaborative fashion to strengthen the economic areas along the border regions so that it doesn't sour and become a haven for insurgents. On the contrary, it needs to be strengthened so that people can rely upon and get a good job from this.