Welcome to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we have this meeting with a delegation from Moldova.
It's my pleasure to welcome His Excellency Tudor Ulianovschi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, to the committee. Also at the table with the minister is Igor Bodiu, head of the American division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. Of course, we have our good friend the ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to Canada, Her Excellency Ala Beleavschi.
Welcome to the committee, everybody.
One of the things we have been doing, Minister, is inviting foreign ministers and dignitaries to the foreign affairs committee. It gives us a direct opportunity to allow you, on behalf of Moldova, to let Canadians know your priorities and, obviously, the connection to Canada as a nation.
It's our pleasure to welcome you.
Colleagues, we have a pretty tight schedule this afternoon, as the minister has other engagements that need to be dealt with, so we'll move this along as precisely as your chair can. Obviously, we will leave time for questions from you as members.
Before that, we would like the minister to take the floor with some opening comments; we'll do that now.
Minister, the floor is yours.