International Trade committee  Okay. I will try to summarize. Looking towards the future, the Honduran economy has been underperforming in the Latin American economy for the last decade and in all likelihood it will continue to underperform. There is no economic forecast from anywhere—I've checked Bloomberg, Reuters, and everywhere else—that says that Honduras will grow fast.

International Trade committee  Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me and for the opportunity to speak with you today regarding Bill C-20. My area of research at the North-South Institute is on international trade and investment. I will be providing my testimony from that point of view. I have been working and doing research on trade between Canada and Latin America for the last six years here.

International Trade committee  Yes, I think there would also have to be changes with registration of companies, with how many foreign directors there can be in different sectors, and which sectors are off limits from foreign investors, as is the case with banking in Canada and also with communications. There are also issues that have to do with the movement of foreign professionals to provide services across the border here.

International Trade committee  Thank you, and I offer my apologies for not being able to answer you in French. In regard to your question and also the previous comments from a member of the committee, I've been researching Canadian mining investment, and particularly the economic impact of Canadian mining investment, so I would like to add that when we talk about CSR, corporate social responsibility, for 45 Canadian companies that operate 68 mines in 12 Latin American countries, CSR represents between 0.3% and 0.2% on average of their revenues per year.

International Trade committee  What I meant by internal is changes that in the literature on trade are referred to as behind the border, changes that have to do with.... First of all, Canada is a confederation, and therefore it's a somewhat difficult country for others to negotiate with. For example, you negotiate with Canada and you sign with the federal government an international free trade agreement, and then you figure out that what you signed doesn't really mean much, because the provinces will not allow you to provide services across their border.

International Trade committee  I have a hard time answering that question. What I can tell you is the way these four other Latin American countries see it is that if they integrate economically to the extent that they are planning to do, they will get, for example, more investments from oil and gas companies from Malaysia that would integrate all their operations with respect to Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile.

International Trade committee  I'd like to add that to some extent, the difference between the Pacific Alliance and other groupings, such as Mercosur or even UNASUR, is that the Pacific Alliance is very determined to provide an expert-led model. They want to trade as freely with the world as possible, particularly with Asia.

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  The North-South Institute is a research policy institute. We are registered as an NGO. Most of our funding comes from the Canadian government, from CIDA and IDRC. We provide advice to the Canadian government, to Canadian society in general, and to Canadian businesses on Canada's relations with developing countries.

International Trade committee  I agree. I will add something very briefly. Yes, it has strong political content, but I think the leaders of these four governments know they have to perform, that they have to show results. Some of the initiatives are very concrete, integrating their stock markets, for example.

International Trade committee  Honourable members, good afternoon. My warmest thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today about the Pacific Alliance. My field of work at the North-South Institute is on international trade and investment, particularly on aspects that relate to Canada and Latin America.