Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank my colleague for having described so well a huge market and an incredible population. For a number of years, very commendable efforts have been made between Canada and Asia-Pacific.
I come from a rural riding where we manufacture chopsticks. We are present on the market, but it is extremely difficult for us to break into that market. We have large quantities of wood. My colleague talked earlier about pulp and paper. In my area, we do have pulp and paper mills.
My question is this: Why can we not break into that market? What are the main problems? In my area, we know perfectly well that relations with the United States and Europe are easy. A lot of people who went to Asia did not come back disappointed, I would venture to say, but observed that things were a bit slow.
What are the main problems we have to deal with in order to get a share of that huge market, when we know that multinationals can afford to pay lobbyists and when we know that things are easier for them? How can a small business get a share of that market?