in which they have a comparative advantage — in other words, in the goods and services they are relatively more efficient at producing. chart 1 : trade has always played an important role in the canadian economy nominal shares, trade and goods imports and exports as a share of gdp, annual data, 1926 – 2015 % 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 trade exports imports sources : statistics canada and bank of canada calculations last observation : 2015 chart 2 : canada remains a trade leader among advanced economies nominal share of gdp, total imports and exports of g7 countries, 2015 % germany canada france italy united kingdom japan sources : organisation for economic co - operation and development ( oecd ) database and bank of canada calculations united states last observation : 2015 because of our geography, which has given us an abundance of natural resources and proximity to the largest market in the world, resource - based products destined for the united sates have dominated our export mix. nonetheless, over our history, canada has transitioned from being a primary goods powerhouse — principally, wood, wheat and other agricultural goods — with a limited set of trading partners to a well - diversified modern economy. today, we export a broad range of manufactured goods, including almost anything with wheels — automobiles, trucks, airplanes and subway cars — and an expanding range of web - based services. to sustain our success as an exporter, we must continue to develop new exports and new markets. our demonstrated ability to adjust flexibly, or “ pivot ” in response to a variety of external and internal forces, reflects, in part, our strong political and legal institutions and our commitment to policies that support economic activity and trade. these include well - defined property rights and legally enforceable contracts, as well as growth - promoting economic policies, such as trade liberalization, and prudent fiscal and financial policies. in addition, our inflationtargeting monetary policy and flexible exchange rate have helped us adjust to shocks and achieve low, stable and predictable inflation and strong and sustainable economic growth. i ’ ll begin my presentation with a simple analytical framework that highlights the key factors that have influenced the evolution of our exports. i ’ ll discuss how those factors shaped the changes in our exports and their destination over history. i ’ ll review three phases in our recent export history. and, in the last section, i ’ ll consider the prospects for canada ’ s exports and their contribution to the bank ’ s outlook for the economy.

the operation of such a virtuous cycle, thereby constraining the economic growth rate and price rises in a self - fulfilling manner. what then, is required to get out of such equilibrium? my answer is that it is not a magical wand, but instead strenuous efforts to be made by a wide range of entities. i think that it is all the more important that the bank, for its part, pursue price stability through pushing up inflation expectations and maintaining accommodative financial conditions under the new monetary policy framework. at the same time, the government and the private sector should play key roles with regard to moving forward. their actions toward raising wages strongly support the achievement of price stability. moreover, in order to achieve sustainable economic growth, i think that efforts such as the following are also essential ; namely, the government's promotion of a growth strategy and structural reforms, and the private sector's innovations in areas including human resource development as well as research and development. the bank will underpin these initiatives by maintaining accommodative financial conditions, thereby contributing to strengthening japan's growth potential in the long term. also, i expect that the bank's measures such as purchases of exchange - traded funds ( etfs ) composed of stocks issued by firms that are proactively making investment in physical and human capital, as well as loan disbursement under the fund - provisioning measure to support strengthening the foundations for economic growth, will assist initiatives by the private sector. if the outlook for prices and economic growth in japan brightens, the effects of monetary easing will heighten through a decline in real interest rates and a rise in the natural interest rate. i expect that the endeavors that the government, the private sector, and the bank are making together as one will bear fruit, and the virtuous cycle of the economy will start to operate vigorously on the new outlook for sustainable economic growth with price stability.