The tribal mentality still applies in those countries. It is always the country's leader, the head of the government, who is in charge of everything, who is the one who gives the orders. Without his consent or his blessing, nothing will work, particularly when it comes to large scale undertakings. He won't speak to me or to my boss, or even to the president of my company, but if the prime minister shows up, then he will deal with him.
To answer your question, I would say that there is not enough in terms of representation, and any representation we do have is inadequate. We often asked for help, and there are two or three people working in the ambassies, which are short staff and can't really do much to support us and work with us. We need them to help open doors and meet with the people in high places. We can do the negotiating ourselves, but it is essential that we have the involvement of the government to represent us. As I said earlier, we are seen as a country with a very civilized, very advanced form of government, and they do want to do business with us, but they always wonder where we are, and why we are not established over there. They don't consider us to the active or interested in their region. In their minds, we are a bunch of companies working on the odd contract, and looking out for opportunities. They don't think that we are in it for the long haul, and they are wrong. SNC-Lavalin has been there for quite some time. Nexen has been there for 10 years, maybe even 13 years. I know of other countries, like CAE and Bombardier, that have been there for quite some time as well. But that is not how they see us, and, as Canadians, it puts us at an enormous disadvantage.