Good afternoon.
It's with great pleasure that I'm here today with Mr. Hutton for the Canada-Arab Business Council. My law firm, Heenan Blaikie, is pleased to be a very active member of the CABC and a board member as well.
My experience working with Jordanian business was certainly enriched when I accompanied the CABC on a trade mission to the MENA region that included Jordan as one of the stops. Since then I've had the great pleasure of working in conjunction with Canada's embassy in Jordan and with Canadian and Jordanian businesses looking to collaborate on significant projects.
I share and echo the CABC's views, as expressed by Mr. Hutton, regarding the importance of the Canada-Jordan free trade agreement. As the first of its kind for Canada and an Arab-speaking nation, it will in its implementation send a message that Canada will promote and support increased investment and trade between our countries and that Canada's relationship with Jordan as a political and social stabilizer in the region is strong. This is an important message and, in my experience, has been noted and appreciated by Jordan's political actors and its business community.
With the assistance of the phenomenal Canadian embassy staff in Amman, Jordan, I have been pleased to reach out to Canadian businesses interested in expanding service and goods offerings in Jordan and the region. I have discussed such opportunities with Jordan's investment authority, based in Amman, and the message I have from the investment authority is that Jordan is open for business. There is a keen and obvious desire to increase Canadian activity there, especially in major infrastructure projects such as the Abdali project in Amman, in agricultural training and facilitation, and in the nuclear sector.
We currently enjoy modest trade with Jordan, with two-way merchandise trade of approximately $83 million in 2009. But with the elimination of tariffs on the vast majority of Canadian exports to Jordan, Canada stands to gain important export volume and value increases.
I look forward to continuing with the promotion of Canadian goods and services in Jordan, which will be even more compelling in the context of an implemented free trade agreement.
Mr. Chair and members of the standing committee, I thank you very much for this opportunity. We welcome your comments and your questions.