Government and industry both have a role to play. The example that I use—my colleagues Brian or Michael might have some great examples too—is that I think we're going on year 48 of what we call the “preconsultations”, where we host the Japanese every year and they host us every year. They want the same farmers going every year. They want to see the same government officials. We all recognize politics and democracies, but they want to know that when they have a relationship as an importer with Canada, they know the people in Canada. They've come to Canada. They want to come and visit our farms. They want to visit the facilities. When markets like the Japanese market, I believe with soy as well, are established, that's a relationship going on 50 years of economic activity. There was nearly a billion dollars in exports to Japan last year. That has been the result of 40-plus years of industry-government collaboration and dialogue.
Oftentimes when you're doing business in parts of the world like southeast Asia, the first meeting is not when you're closing the deal. In the United States and western Europe, that often is. It's transactional; you move on. They're looking to forge long-term relationships. They're looking at decades. They're not looking at the next quarter, for example. That requires sustained effort. That requires trade agreements. That requires trade missions. That requires offices. That requires hosting and reciprocating. They really want to come to Canada and see the farms that grow the products they're purchasing.
There's no silver bullet, but it's sustained, long-term, genuine relationship building in that part of the world.