Mr. Speaker, the Minister for International Trade has said in the House that among the G-7 nations, Canada benefits the most from trade and therefore is the most open to trade of the G-7 economies. Our exports plus imports add up to the equivalent of over 80% of our GDP. The next closest to us is the United Kingdom at less than 60%.
More of our production at home depends on export markets than any other G-7 country. By the same token we have made the global market our market to a greater extent than any of our competitors.
Finally, we have to see the importance of global markets to Canada's emerging new economy sectors. Our trade numbers show that we are having some success. Some of our new economy exports such as earnings from royalties and licences and research and development have consistently been the strongest components in our services exports. These grew by 16.8% and 15% per year respectively since 1993. Services are the key to the new economy and we are starting to do very well here.
It is true that we ship a lot of rocks and logs. We have and will continue to have a strong comparative advantage in many resource sectors. The numbers show that the relative size of the resource sector in total Canadian exports has fallen over the years. But the good news is that we have not been losing our resource sector. Rather, we have been gaining vibrant manufacturing and services sectors that have become world class competitors in their own right.
This points to what I think is the most significant way in which trade and investment are benefiting Canada. Our integration with the global economy is not type casting us as producers of raw materials. It is paving the way for Canadians to enjoy the benefits of a vastly more diversified economy with more knowledge based economic activity and more rewarding jobs than an inward orientation possibly could offer.