Ms. Kerry Buck at the International Trade Committee

On March 25th, 2013. See this statement in context.

March 25th, 2013 / 4:30 p.m.

Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Kerry Buck

I think it's difficult for us to assess right now the benefits of the candidacy of their other observers. We're focusing on our relations with the Pacific Alliance and Pacific Alliance countries. I'm unable to assess the membership of other observers.

We have an edge in that we have existing FTAs with all four members. We are in their markets in a very big way, and we have very strong bilateral relations with them. We have an edge over other observers. Our interest is keen. Their interest is keen. We also bring a lot to the table: we have a lot of Pacific presence; we're G8; we're G20. It's something we're looking at carefully.

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