You're absolutely right. We have a tremendous resource. When I speak about Asia competence, a key part of that is cultural and language abilities. We do have a rich diaspora community—for instance, a one-million-strong Filipino Canadian community—that can play an active role as we deepen relations.
Oftentimes, members of the diaspora are also part of the chambers of commerce and business associations, and they're some of the first ones to go into new markets. For instance, we just signed a CEPA with Indonesia, and we're hoping that the chamber of commerce and the Indonesian Canadians can be part of that effort as well.
I would also like to note that it needs to be a whole-of-Canada approach. Obviously, we need to draw on the talents of our diaspora community, but we cannot exercise foreign policy through diaspora only. We need to make sure that our universities and Canadians travel to the region much more and take advantage of the scholarships that are available through the Indo-Pacific strategy. This becomes a whole-of-nation, whole-of-society effort.
