I think this is the critical issue. My concern is we have said that at least 50 million people are living in the rural areas, and most of these people's livelihoods depend on agricultural production. So therefore we need to weigh the interests of these groups in any trade agreement with Canada or any other trade agreement.
Specifically, even the World Bank and the FAO are coming to an agreement that food production is the major thing, not only for Colombia but in the developing nations at large. And if you keep in mind what happened during the food crisis a couple of years ago, that was the first alarming shock.
This free trade agreement, if it incorporates in its provisions articles that safeguard the production of the small persons, would be a positive thing. In other words, you have to put mechanisms in place whereby the small producers of grain, maize, corn, peas, potatoes, rice, and sugar are not affected negatively. If they are, how could we provide for...? I mean, we should make sure that these peasants do have access to markets, that they do have access to better fertilizers, they do have better access to mechanization, and what have you.
In other words, we have to factor in the strategic interests of this sector, because we don't want to transform Colombia into a net importer of food, and making it just produce some cash crops and some mining. What happens after the mining dries up? We transform the 45 million people of Colombia into beggars.
Is this how we contemplate the future, in 10 or 15 or 20 years down the line? So it's not about today. It's not about tomorrow. It's about the future of Colombia. So that's why we should really make sure that we have a mind to the interests of the agriculture production in Colombia.
From my studies, I have seen that in every region where multinational corporations have invested, such as Casanare, Arauca, or Putumayo, it has affected our agriculture production negatively. It was detrimental. It created all the implications of the Dutch disease. In other words, people clamoured to become part of this new production of oil or coal or gold at the expense of food production, but the consequence of that is what? That's why provisions should be put in place to make sure that this does not happen. Basically it's the responsibility of the Colombian government to put in place policies that could mitigate the effects of the Dutch disease. This is not taking place.
Colombia today is witnessing a boom in the mining industry. Foreign direct investment has increased tremendously. Now the figures are alarming. Therefore, what will happen in the wake of this boom? Less agriculture production, less food security. And therefore what happens after that boom dissipates is the critical question.
Thank you.