CUBC Hosts Luncheon with Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Mélanie Joly
The Canada-UAE Business Council hosted yesterday a luncheon in Abu Dhabi with the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Kris Panday, Ambassador of Canada to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), His Excellency Fahad Al Raqbani, UAE Ambassador to Canada, and His Excellency Tracy Reynolds, Consul General of Canada in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
The event was attended by business leaders representing companies from the investment, logistics, construction, legal, engineering, energy, and utilities sectors, including Brookfield Asset Management, Trimark Capital, Mubadala Investment Company, EllisDon, TAQA, Arch Corporation, Hatch, 2040 Ventures, Gowling WLG, Etihad Airways, ADNOC, and Al Jaber Group.
The luncheon provided an opportunity for the Minister to engage in substantive dialogue on the strong and multifaceted Canada-UAE ties with senior Canadian executives in the country, major UAE investors with significant commercial interests in Canada, and select government officials.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Aziz Shariff, Finance Committee Chair at the Canada-UAE Business Council and Chairman at Trimark Capital, highlighted that the bilateral relationship had gained significant momentum with recent developments including the successful co-investments of DP World and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the expansion of the Canada-UAE air service agreement, and the acquisitions made by Mubadala Investment Company and Brookfield Asset Management.
Mr. Shariff also emphasized the significance and importance of the upcoming 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) taking place from November 30 to December 12, 2023, in the UAE at Expo City Dubai. He added that the international event will be an occasion to explore and advance collaboration opportunities in areas of mutual interest in the realms of sustainability, decarbonization and energy transition.
Minister Joly underscored the importance of advancing and deepening the bilateral trade relationships between the Canadian and UAE business communities and continue to foster investments between the two countries. The Minister also highlighted the shared mutual interests between Canada and the UAE, including clean energy and water initiatives.
Canada-UAE Business Council President Nour Kechacha concluded the luncheon by thanking Minister Joly, other government representatives and business leaders for attending the luncheon and for their steadfast commitment to the bilateral relationship.
Quick Facts
- According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, the aggregate value of UAE investment in Canada has reached $30 billion.
- In 2022, the UAE was Canada’s largest merchandise export market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
- In 2022, Canada was the top source country for FDI capital to Dubai. The country accounted for 41 percent of the total value of investment flows.
- More than 200 Canadian companies have an operational presence in the UAE. It is estimated that over 40,000 Canadians live and work in the UAE.
