Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank all the witnesses for taking the time from their schedules to come here to speak about not only the importance of this agreement but more broadly, I think, you touched on the importance of new markets. I think we have a tremendous example here today with the companies that are appearing. We have investors, from some of our world-class mining industry, and we also have our agricultural sectors represented, on the produce side, the crop side, and the food processing side. Really we have almost the triple-threat of Canada before us.
I have a couple of specific questions, and the first is for you, Mr. Bannantine. You spoke at length about your investments in the San Andres mine. You did paint a stark picture of the choice Hondurans have in getting a job in one of the sectors—we've heard from Gildan and others, Canadian employers on the ground there—or being drawn into the strife and terrible circumstances of narco-trafficking and the violence associated with it.
You also talked about the $10 million you spend annually in the country on services and engineering. In my consultations with NGOs specific to the extractive sector, Engineers Without Borders talked about the importance from a CSR perspective of building those local supplier and local procurement networks with the hope that at first they service your investment and your operation in the country, but it fosters an actual economy beyond simply your investment.
Have you seen the growth of that local procurement and that local supply network in the years you've lived there, both as an army officer on the ground through to your investments with Aura? Have you seen that grow?