Thank you, Mr. Chair. My apologies.
I think it's an important question, because in the consultations that took place before the formalization of the strategy, the messages were loud and clear—let's get it right this time so that Canada doesn't go into different parts of the region and then get distracted by other global issues. I think the fact that this is a five-year-funded 10-year view across 17 departments and agencies really takes the message from the stakeholders that we have to be all in, in this case. The recognition by business, academia, provinces, territories and associations that the Government of Canada needed to take a leadership role in this and facilitate and allow more Canadians, more businesses, more people to engage in the region on a more fulsome basis was the message we heard loud and clear.
Of all the pillars of the strategy—and they're not in any order of priority; that's just the way they've come on the page—I think the third pillar, the people-to-people exchange pillar of the strategy, will be the most heavy lifting, but I think it will have the most long-term significant benefits for all Canadians.
We're talking about getting more opportunities for small and large Canadian businesses to engage in the region, to increase trade, to increase inbound investments, to encourage students to study in the Indo-Pacific region and also to have the best and the brightest from the Indo-Pacific region come to Canada to build their Canada capacity. This is something that I think will have extraordinarily positive benefits in the long term for Canada. It will require a lot of work and a lot of heavy lifting, but I'm confident that the framework that is set out will allow us to build a generation of Indo-Pacific experts in academia, business, politics and culture through the deployment of this strategy.