International Trade committee  I'd just like to mention a very practical example of how we consult and how the information gets back out. Very recently we organized, in cooperation with the Canada-Arab Business Council, a conference on doing business in the Middle East and North Africa. We took advantage of the fact that we had our heads of mission from every one of those countries in Ottawa to have a meeting of heads of mission, and we also invited the heads of missions of those countries posted here in Canada.

International Trade committee  There are differences, for example, even in the three areas of my region. If you're looking at the Middle East, for example, contacts are extremely important in terms of doing business where markets are not necessarily established for us. In other areas, for example Africa, intelligence on the opportunities--because many Canadian companies don't have a presence in Africa--becomes all the more important.