Ladies and gentlemen, we will continue.
We now have the pleasure and honour to welcome to our committee Her Excellency Romy Vasquez de Gonzalez, the ambassador of the Republic of Panama to Canada.
With the growing eminence of Panama as a gateway to Latin America due to the expansion of the Panama Canal, there is great interest in the general region. It was suggested and accepted by the committee that, in addition to our visit to Colombia, we would visit Panama. So I'm very pleased that Her Excellency has agreed to come today to give us a brief overview and answer your questions about that part of the visit and the Republic of Panama.
I appreciate your taking the time to come. I'll ask you to begin with an opening statement, Excellency.