Thank you very much for the question. There is so much to say with respect to that. I think making choices is difficult.
Thank you for pointing out a theme that I think is very important, the one of partnership. Partnership is a deceptively simple concept, especially when between organizations people change. It's really finding ways to centre the decisions we make, as a country and as organizations, around the interests of our counterparts and not just our own. To be long-standing partners means understanding the interests of others. Part of setting our priorities should be understanding the priorities of our counterparts and really understanding what their needs are.
At a policy level, that presents a certain different set of dynamic challenges. When we come to the great aid that we might provide through the FIAP, for example, how can it be consolidated in a way that represents the kind of interest that government is asking us to prioritize? There are ways to marry those two considerations, I believe. I do think that investment in a relationship does matter over time. I do think we've had an approach of kind of parachuting in. We have to think differently. I talked about volunteer co-operation. Where are exchanges today that might be thinking about things in a different way, about relationships on another playing field?
Now, when you talked about a process to move our relationship from an aid relationship to a trade-based relationship, we have to think strategically about our engagements. Where does Canada already have ties and added value? How can we strengthen relationships between universities in areas where Canada already has strengths? That's the kind of strategic thinking that could have long-term real beneficial value, because we could marry the interests of our partners with our own.
I think that's the only avenue by which we get to defining priority countries or thematics, because fundamentally there are so many different things to choose from and so many tables to be at. I think we all know that this is the biggest challenge Canada faces in terms of decision-making. As Canadians, we want to be at every table, and rightly so, but in many respects, we have to make those choices based on where we'll have the greatest impact. I don't think it's necessarily about our own interests. It's also about our partners' interests.