Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I appreciate this.
Thank you very much, Minister, for coming out. I know you're very busy, and it's greatly appreciated that you come to committee.
I heard your opening remarks, and I have a slightly different viewpoint in terms of the feedback and response we've been getting with respect to some of the witnesses who have come before the committee with respect to Canada's trade policies. Many experts are unhappy with some of the initiatives--the Chamber of Commerce, business associations are disappointed. I'll talk about some of those disappointments. They feel that we are drifting, that there's a lack of action on this file, specifically with respect to some of the key emerging markets, and that some of the provincial governments are just a bit frustrated and they've taken steps to pursue trade when they feel the federal government hasn't done enough on this file.
You also alluded to the budget, and I do want to again share some concerns that I heard from many people in the business community who were disappointed with the CanTrade initiative being cut and replaced by the global commerce strategy. The funding was far less than the CanTrade initiative, which was millions and millions of dollars' worth more investment in promoting trade.
You're probably aware that we're focusing on, in this committee, emerging markets and looking at opportunities for how Canada can expand its trade abroad and how we can improve our trade with some of the key markets, to make sure that we can maintain a high quality of life and economic prosperity and so forth, as you alluded to in your opening remarks.
The focus of my questions will be on the closure of the consular offices. I'm having a difficult time understanding why this is taking place. You have a strong business background, so I'm looking forward to your analysis on the cost benefit of closing some of these consular offices. The first one I'd like to talk about is the consular office in Japan, in Osaka, which represents the Kansai region.
I just want to make sure that we bring forth some of the facts, and then I would like to hear the rationale. This region has a population base of 25.5 million people; it accounts for 19% of Japan's GDP; $1.2 trillion is generated in this region, similar to that of Canada. It represents 20% of Japan's foreign trade, and $2.2 billion worth of Canadian product is exported to the Kansai region annually. It's a very important market; it's a very key trading market. Why would we close the consular services in that region if we want to promote and maintain trade?