I want to begin by congratulating the members of the Canada-Argentina Chamber of Commerce for all the work they have been doing to build a closer trading relationship between our two countries. I understand that you now have some 59 member companies and that you continue to grow.

I am particularly pleased that the Chamber is active in supporting the efforts of Canadian firms in Argentina. In fact, it was a key local partner in the organization of our very successful Team Canada mission in 1998.

Trade Promotion

Team Canada trade missions are very important to us. They have opened doors around the world for more than 1800 Canadian companies and have helped them find a total of 882 deals worth $24.4 billion in new business.

So from the government's point of view, these missions are very worthwhile indeed!

In addition, we have 500 trade officers at over 100 posts around the world who are helping hundreds of Canadian companies compete and succeed in foreign markets. At the same time, we have also worked directly with other governments in the emerging markets of Latin America (including Argentina) and have signed new agreements to encourage technology and management services exports and other partnerships with Canadian small and medium-sized companies.

Increasing Trade with Argentina

Canada is also working to link Canadian and Argentinian small and medium-sized businesses through our New Exporters to South America Program, which has seen two missions to Argentina in the furniture and telecom sectors. Another mission is planned for the health sector, and other activities are under way in the area of satellite communications.

Industry Canada is working on transferring Canadian technologies related to connectivity, for example, and the Canadian International Development Agency has a number of projects on environmental regulation in the mining sector, technical education, biotechnology risk assessment, forest fire management, health and safety in the oil and gas industry, and others.

Canada's Export Development Corporation [EDC] supports a lot of exports to Argentina. In fact, Argentina is one of the most important markets for EDC in South America.

At the same time, Argentina is actively promoting itself as open for investment and now has one of the most liberal regimes for foreign investment in the region -- something that Canadian enterprises are certainly aware of.

Canadian investment in Argentina has gone from $50 million in 1990 to over $2.2 billion in 2000. Canada is now Argentina's seventh most important investor.

As governments, we want to encourage this process, and we have been working to upgrade the Canada-Argentina Foreign Investment Protection Agreement and other agreements

Overall, Canada-Argentina trade has jumped from $226 million in 1992 to $640 million in 1997.

Free Trade Area of the Americas

This is only one of the reasons that the Government of Canada believes that Canada's future is directly linked to that of our hemispheric neighbours. We want to be in on the ground floor of the development of this huge new economic powerhouse. And when it comes to trade, we -- like you -- want to have clear rules of the game to ensure that we are not left subject to the whims of larger and more powerful economies. That is why we are enthusiastic supporters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas [FTAA] negotiations now under way.

In fact, Canada chaired the first round of the FTAA talks, from the Santiago Summit in 1998 to the Ministerial in Toronto last November, which I chaired. Responsibility for chairing the talks went to Argentina following the Toronto meeting.

Canada has long advocated the benefits of freer trade among the nations of the world and has always stressed the importance of a transparent, rules-based international trading system. We were one of the original signatories of the GATT [General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade] over 50 years ago, and Canada continues to be a strong supporter of the WTO [World Trade Organization] process today. And, despite the fact we were unable to resolve several outstanding issues at the WTO meeting in Seattle, I and many of my international counterparts have been working hard to get the process back on track.

As a mid-sized economy, we benefit from a rules-based system because it provides a more predictable trading environment for our businesses and gives us the ability to compete on a level playing field against economies that are larger and stronger.

A more liberalized trading system based on clear rules helps exporters, which in turn promotes increased employment. It encourages businesses to be more outward-looking by giving them larger markets for their goods, and it enables them to obtain economies of scale. In Canada's case, the value of exports in our economy has increased from 30 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] in 1993 to 43 percent in 1999. During the same period of export growth, our unemployment rate has decreased more than 4 percent.

With over 40 percent of our economy now export-driven, Canada has more at stake than most countries in building a better, fairer and more predictable international trading system. So we are committed to working toward agreements among like-minded middle powers that give more people the opportunity to share in the benefits of global wealth creation.

History shows that those countries that have made the greatest strides in reducing poverty are those that have been the most open to trade. Those nations that couple openness to trade with good governance, sound social and environmental policies and a market-based economy make even greater progress in human development.

The FTAA is a historic opportunity to unite the 34 democratic nations of the Americas in a comprehensive agreement for greater economic integration, development and growth.

The hemisphere has a population of more than 800 million people and an economy of roughly US$11 trillion. It conducts more than 35 percent of the world's economic activity with less than 15 percent of the world's population! The combined GDP of the Americas exceeds that of the European Union, which is now the world's largest integrated economic and political unit.

The Government of Canada believes that liberalizing trade on a regional basis through the FTAA is fully consistent with our goal of liberalizing trade on a global basis.

We already have several other regional agreements. We are a member of the NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] along with the United States and Mexico. We are also members of the APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] forum. We have free trade agreements with Israel and Chile. Work continues on an agreement with the European Free Trade Association and we have also begun consultations on negotiating a free trade agreement with Costa Rica.

I believe that Canada will benefit greatly from an FTAA that is balanced and WTO-consistent.

For Canada, the non-NAFTA countries of Latin America and the Caribbean represent an enormous new market. Collectively, they generate a GDP of $2 trillion and have a population approaching 500 million. In addition, with more than $32 billion invested in the Americas outside the NAFTA countries and Chile, Canadian businesses would stand to benefit greatly from better investment protection rules in the region.

Canada Is a Trading Nation

The search for a better and more predictable international trading environment is what inspired the GATT -- of which Canada was a founding member. It is the same sentiment that drives the WTO.

Over the past half century, more open markets have contributed enormously to the prosperity and growth of both developed and developing countries.

Our challenge now is to present a plan that explains how we can build stronger economies and create jobs through trade, while still leaving room for national communities to be what they want to be.

This has a special meaning for us in Canada, because Canada is now, proportionately, one of the largest trading nations in the world.

As I mentioned earlier, seven years ago, about 30 percent of our gross domestic product was export-related, and today that figure is over 43 percent.

The United States exports only 11 percent of its GDP, while Japan exports only 15 percent.

Today, nearly one third of all jobs in Canada depend on trade!

And it is not all natural resources, either. Resources now represent about 32 percent of our exports, compared with about double that 20 years ago. Canada is becoming a knowledge economy, exporting our services, our expertise, and a lot of other things as well.

We still have abundant resources of forests, energy, minerals and so on, but the greatest resource in Canada today is our people!

Most of our exports are now high value-added goods and services. Canadian companies are world leaders in telecommunications, aerospace, software, environmental technologies and other areas of the new economy.

We are looking to share that technological leadership and those high-quality goods and services with countries and business partners everywhere.

Conclusion

I want to conclude by talking for a few minutes about the WTO, which I believe is an indispensable institution that must not be allowed to stagnate and become irrelevant. In the past 15 years or so, its membership has grown enormously, from about 90 members to 135. China and other previously excluded members are now poised to join.

And just as the GATT evolved into the WTO, the WTO itself must continue to change if it is to remain an effective international trade mechanism.

Canada continues to support the WTO process, and we continue to push for solutions in the areas of agriculture and services, as well as many others.

One area in particular that we have been working on through the WTO is the whole question of culture. This is an area that I know is also an important concern for Argentina and, indeed, for all the countries in Latin America.

I strongly believe that the role of artists in society is not only to express the emotions felt by society, but also to help shape those emotions. This is particularly important today, as the world is going through enormous changes with globalization and the high-technology revolution. It is extremely important that our artists can work to enlighten us -- as societies -- on what it is we are going through.

And although there are certain similarities, what we are going through in Canada is different from what you are going through in Argentina, or in Chile, or in Brazil, for example. Each country has its own unique set of challenges and opportunities. It is very important that each country make room for its artists to do this important work.

That is, in part, why Canada is pursuing a new international instrument on cultural diversity. This agreement would recognize the special role of cultural goods and services within the various economies of the world. It would also recognize the right of governments to preserve and promote cultural diversity within their own economies, while at the same time respecting the rules of the international trading system and ensuring markets for cultural exports.

I am very optimistic that the nations of the world will continue to make steady progress toward a more open, rules-based international trading system in these important areas and in many others that are critical to the continued economic and social development of any country.

I believe that Canada is proof that opening yourself up to the world, and recognizing and celebrating the diversity that comes with this openness, pays many dividends, both economic and social.

I also believe that Canada's openness is one of the main reasons that we have become one of the strongest societies and one of the strongest economies in the world, despite our relatively small population.

The slogan for the 1998 Team Canada mission was "Canada and Argentina: Partners for the Future." I think it was an excellent slogan, because there is an enormous potential for productive partnerships between our two countries.

We have many similarities, and we have many opportunities to work together in mining, energy, transport, agriculture, construction, information technology, environment, health, financial services and many more sectors.

Another thing we have in common is that we both have very large neighbours!

In Canada, we used to say that when the American elephant got the sniffles, the Canadian mouse got pneumonia! So we understand very well that when Brazil experiences some difficulties, Argentina and, indeed, all the other countries in the region also feel the impact.

A better rules-based international trading system, along with strong regional and hemispheric trade agreements, may not solve every single problem in the world. But it is the surest way I know to prevent smaller economies such as Argentina's and Canada's from catching a cold whenever the big guys sneeze!

Thank you very much.

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