On your question on the closure of missions, your numbers are correct. Those are the right numbers.
With respect to Export Development Canada, the government has signalled in the budget that it is looking at the regulations governing the approval process for Export Development Canada to make equity investments. We're looking at some streamlining and facilitation of their ability to make equity investments beyond the $10 million threshold.
I think it's useful to step back for a minute, because that is a good example of how one has to change the way you play the game. I have said often, and I know members of this committee have heard it from me and from others, that in the global economy in which we operate, global supply chains are where it's at. The key for Canada is to determine how we ensure that Canadian companies are driving global supply chains or are an intrinsic part, that they're involved directly, deeply, and securely in global supply chains.
That again comes back to the importance of the gateway and just-in-time transportation, and all the efficiencies around managing supply chains and value chains, which are all about a continuous movement of goods and services and a continuous creation of value. To do that requires not just investments here in Canada but investments abroad. We have to get our mind beyond always thinking that we have to get more investment into Canada.
Yes, we do have to get more investment into Canada, but at the same time we have to get more investment into foreign markets, because that's the way we build supply chains. That's the way we get access to global technologies that are not present here in Canada. That's how we become fundamentally strong and competitive, and EDC can play a very significant role, particularly with the smaller and medium-sized companies in terms of putting equity investments in, not necessarily us becoming the owner of the company but us getting in beside private investors, beside strategic partners, and sending the signal that this is a Canadian company, we believe in it. In many markets where governments have a tendency to mess with the market, having the government there is a very important signal to not mess with Canada.