Mr. Van Keulen, Mr. Woo, thank you for being with us today.
Welcome to the committee, Mr. Woo. First of all, I want to start by thanking you for the wonderful work and service you've done as president and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. You've really contributed so much to Canada's policy, and I want to thank you on behalf of all parties.
Mr. Woo, I want to start with you. You have written that Asian countries feature prominently in the global markets action plan, and they will welcome Canada's primacy of economic development. But you've also written that the strengthening of economic ties with Asian countries will not come about just by sending trade missions to the region or signing FTAs.
I will quote you now, it says:
The fact that Canadian foreign policy goals are now defined largely in economic terms does not mean that the instruments for advancing those goals are of an exclusively commercial nature. The role of the Canadian government has to be more than that of a chief marketing officer. Asian counterparts are also interested in political and security dialogue, scientific and technical cooperation, educational exchanges, and cultural diplomacy.
I'm wondering if you have any specific suggestions for, I guess, pan-economic groups in which Canada can and should be taking part in the Asia region.