Thank you.
I've had the opportunity to visit Brazil twice over the last eight months. It is a country and a region of the world that perhaps Canadians have not paid enough attention to.
As you know, Brazil has very significant economic growth. It is the economic powerhouse in South America, and I'm certainly committed to deepening our engagement with Brazil and also with its partner countries in MERCOSUR, the four countries being Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
One of the areas in which Brazil lacks very significantly is the area of infrastructure investment. They have struck a plan that calls for infrastructure investments exceeding $800 billion over the next ten years. It turns out that Canada is one the world leaders in infrastructure and in transportation.
I would like to open up that market to our Canadian companies, because they can provide expertise that presently isn't available within Brazil. We have a great opportunity to partner with Brazilian companies, providing the kind of infrastructure investment and transportation investment that they so desperately need.
My assessment is that the lack of infrastructure is holding back Brazil from even greater economic prosperity. My understanding is that some 30 million Brazilians have been lifted out of poverty over the last decade or so. That's good news. That's why we need to continue to engage with Brazil. There are significant opportunities there to develop not only our economy, but to assist them in developing a strong democracy, a strong economy. I take that role very seriously.