Good afternoon. My name is Martin Loken. I'm the director of the regional trade policy division at Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Mr. Paquette, thank you for your question about the FTAA. Not much is happening right now with regard to the FTAA. Perhaps you are aware that, in November 2005, at the Summit of the Americas, the leaders of most countries reaffirmed their interest in the FTAA, since this is a tool that promotes economic integration and the liberalization of trade in the Americas.
I believe that 29 of the 34 countries represented at Mar del Plata reaffirmed their support for the FTAA. However, there was no consensus with regard to the resumption of negotiations. The government of Colombia offered, in Mar del Plata, to consult with the FTAA participants and also to hold a meeting at the appropriate time. We are awaiting the results of this consultation.
In the meantime the co-chairs of the negotiations, the United States and Brazil, must resolve their differences with regard to the FTAA. There has not yet been a breakthrough in their negotiations. Therefore, there is no specific date on which negotiations will resume.
That said, the FTAA remains an initiative that Canada supports. We believe that it is important to improve the conditions for investment and trade in our hemisphere, and the FTAA is an extremely useful means by which to achieve this.