International Trade committee  Mr. Chair, and honourable members, it's a pleasure to be here, and I thank you very much for the invitation. I will try to be brief. I know you have some questions. I know you are already very familiar with the Pacific Alliance and have heard from one of our ambassadors already.

International Trade committee  Unfortunately, I think that question is above my pay grade. What I can tell you—

International Trade committee  —is that if Canada were to decide to join, it would have to sit down at the table and negotiate, as it is doing at TPP and elsewhere, and see what it can achieve or not.

International Trade committee  No, there is a chapter that covered the protection of investment. What the Pacific Alliance does, going beyond goods and services—and I didn't mention investment, or if I did, what I meant was the Pacific Alliance also covers the integration of capital and the liberalization of movement of people....

International Trade committee  I cannot speak about Canada, because Canada has chosen so far to be an observer. They get to attend the meetings where they go. If the Minister of Foreign Affairs shows up, he can attend the meetings. He can speak. He cannot negotiate.

International Trade committee  One of the key ones is harmonization of rules, which is different from recognizing rules. If you harmonize rules, if you manage to have the same processes and procedures for many of the goods and services, immediately your market becomes a lot more interesting. You don't have to label and put everything just for the Colombian market, but whatever you produce—wherever you produce it—is destined for the Mexican, the Chilean, the Peruvian, and the Colombian markets.

International Trade committee  It will be in most sectors affecting the economy: the sale of goods, labelling, financial services, and many of the issues where, as long as you continue to advance, you're creating a bigger market.

International Trade committee  I remember reading in university many years ago Mr. Bhagwati's writings and reading about the importance of having an international approach. I'm not an economist, but any economist will explain to you that if you have a multilateral approach, theoretically—and that's the problem—you are amending the flow of commerce, and everybody is benefiting.

International Trade committee  Colombia believes in multilateralism. It is a member of the WTO. We have a very strong embassy there. Our government has been ready to advance in that round. It's just doesn't seem as though it's going to happen very soon, but we certainly hope it does.

International Trade committee  Colombia is not a member of the TPP. I have to start with that, but I think there is a significant difference. The significant difference is that TPP is an ongoing process. Canada, I know, and Mexico recently joined it. If and when it happens—and I'm sure it will—it looks as if it will comprise a free trade area of goods and services, and investment.

International Trade committee  Thank you. I think Colombia has been looking for a while for an initiative in which to find countries that share some values, such as the rule of law, an open market, more integration, and a harmonizing of rules to benefit and attract foreign investment. We found this in the Pacific Alliance.

International Trade committee  Thank you for your words. As a Colombian, I will tell you that many times in my life I never thought that Colombia would get out of the terrible situation it was in. Every day I am so happy and surprised that we were able to overcome very difficult obstacles, such as violence and respect for human rights, and having control of the territory, in terms of changing the story and making all Colombians try to row in the same direction.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Easter. I'm not going to comment on Canada. I will comment on Colombia, which has signed and implemented a number of free trade agreements, some of which have in some aspects—for example, we will receive a lot of foreign investment but perhaps our exports to those countries are not growing as much as our imports....

International Trade committee  No, I mentioned the example of the European Union as a process in which there has been integration in other aspects. The Pacific Alliance is what its leaders decided it would be, a framework to explore a joint effort with Asia and to further integrate the economies because they share the same values.

International Trade committee  Mining and financial services are the key. A number of Canadian companies have been purchasing minority and majority stakes in some financial institutions and looking into others. Aside from mining, we have a big presence of Canadian entities now in the financial services. Mining is definitely the area where you see more investment.