First of all, when we're looking at it in terms of economic performance and the export opportunities we've seen in the last few years, for at least the next 10 to 15 years it will have to do with our rich natural resources. There are global market opportunities being offered; however, we have major challenges in tapping into these opportunities.
On the forest products side, the mill towns are suffering and will continue to suffer as long we cannot renew our forest products industry. Renewal is going to be key. To make that happen further, mills will have to be shut down, which means we'll need to have a strategy for those communities that will be affected. We'll need to focus on investing in more modern, larger mills moving forward.
One thing we found when looking at the pulp and newsprint mills in Canada was that they're old and small compared to the competition abroad. We have to do something about that. We have to encourage the industry to do something about it. We also have to try to diversify the products being produced in the forest products sector and open up new opportunities. We're looking at opportunities for using that fibre to produce biochemicals and bioenergy products. Bioenergy could also offer an opportunity when we're dealing with issues like climate change.
In the agrifood sector, the biggest hurdle has to do with the suspension of the Doha Round. As long as we cannot fix and liberalize our trade in that area we'll have limited opportunities for our agrifood sector. Internally there's a major issue in innovation and the capacity for the industry to produce value-added products.
We're seeing the greatest opportunities in processed foods, higher-quality foods, and foods with specific types of attributes, like low-carb, high-protein, and pre-packaged. That's where the business will be in the future, not only in the industrialized world but also in the emerging economies, as you have growing middle classes seeking higher-quality foods. We have to tap into that, but there are some regulatory barriers that need to be overcome. The regulatory approval processes are slow and cumbersome and are preventing the industry from being as innovative as possible.
On mining, metal prices have been increasing quite substantially. There are great opportunities for Canada in the global marketplace. The biggest problem is that our reserves have been depleting for the last couple of decades. We need to be able to discover new mines. That means we have to permit and help bring about additional exploration so we can make these discoveries. There will be some environmental challenges, which we address in the report. Strong environmental stewardship programs will be required, because they will most likely be in environmentally sensitive areas.
On energy, because we have rich energy resources, we could become an energy superpower, but in the long term that will have major environmental consequences. We have an opportunity to become a clean energy superpower, meaning that as we develop our energy resources, we also have an aggressive strategy in developing new environmental technologies. There are already some pilot projects in existence, and we have to tap into those and build on the skills resulting from research and development in this area. If we can make this happen, it will offer great opportunities for Canada, not only in the coming decade but at least until 2030 or 2040.