International Trade committee  I agree; I mean, the other thing you might do for the lobster is look at other industries that want in. For example, icewine: that goes not bad with lobster—

International Trade committee  —and I know that the wine producers are all wanting to get into it. Perhaps there could be a food, or food and beverage, consortium that works on trying to adapt foreign tastes.

International Trade committee  Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

International Trade committee  Do you know what? I don't think we have data on that. I think it's an absolutely critical question: Why do firms stop? What differentiates the ones that, when the going gets tough, keep at it? Is it funding? What is the difference? It's a good question, but I don't have the ans

International Trade committee  The entrepreneurs I talk to who do business in foreign markets talk very highly of the trade people associated with our embassies and consulates, but I think because the nuances of each company are different and what they're selling is different, it's unrealistic for them to have

International Trade committee  I completely agree. I think that's huge. If you have a product or service, how to put it into a foreign market so that it's appealing there is big. I don't know whether the producers can band together and find somebody who's based in, for instance, Shanghai—agents are always di

International Trade committee  Yes. Actually, it sounds like you need to find ways to educate the market. I completely agree that Canadian lobster is way better than that of any of the other markets, but you have to think about how you are going to educate a market that doesn't know that, right? Conceptually,

International Trade committee  Well, I think they offer enormous growth possibilities. Some of the firms that I talked with in this Conference Board study had such things as telecommunications technology or auto parts technology or water purification technology. There's a huge demand for those in emerging mark

International Trade committee  I think it's hugely important, and I think our recent immigrants are a huge resource in that respect. When you look at the business schools right now, we have lots of students from other countries coming and getting business education. Their knowledge of the Canadian economy and

International Trade committee  I think they have fantastic information about outcomes, so who is doing what.... It tends to be old. I think data from 2011 is what we're looking at now, so it tends to be old. I think there's not detailed data. Most of it doesn't have any information, say, about the owners or th

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  I think that's a stretch goal, as they call it. I did a recent study for the Conference Board on emerging markets. Emerging markets are really difficult, in particular because you need a local presence and local partners. There are some things that can be done. My understanding

International Trade committee  Well, we do; our exports seem very embedded in the United States. When their economy is doing well, that's great, but when their economy stagnates, it's not so great. We may be missing out on opportunities. I definitely would agree with that. I think there needs to be thought ar

International Trade committee  Good afternoon.

International Trade committee  Sorry, I'm not sure.... Do you mean to set targets?