Mr. Speaker, last week I had the pleasure of attending the first ever Canada-U.S. businesswomen's trade summit in Toronto.
Co-chaired by the Minister for International Trade, U.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley, and the administrator of U.S. Small Business Administration, Aida Alvarez, this summit allowed Canadian and American businesswomen to develop cross-border business.
Approximately 250 women whose businesses had been identified as export ready from the United States and Canada attended the summit. The summit witnessed the signing of many partnership and business agreements. It also gave participants a forum to share ideas, resources and best practices. In addition, the summit provided an opportunity to discuss international trade issues and public policies of relevance to women entrepreneurs.
I commend the organizing team, spearheaded by Astrid Pregel of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, for its vision in conceiving the summit and I thank our partners, the corporate sponsors, for making this vision a reality.