Abu Dhabi: Canada is looking to attract UAE companies to invest in $125 billion (Dh459 billion) infrastructure development projects the country has launched, its ambassador to the UAE told Gulf News in an interview.
“It is a wonderful opportunity for sovereign wealth funds and private investors to invest in Canadian infrastructure. We are encouraging UAE investors to take a look at Canada for investment,” said Masud Husain.
“This year we will also have an infrastructure bank, which is going to make it even easier for foreign investors to invest in Canadian infrastructure projects. The bank will not only be investing but will also help investors to find specific infrastructure projects for investment,” he added.
UAE companies have been big investors in Canada. Some of the big investors include Abu Dhabi National Energy Company also known as Taqa which invested in oil and gas sector, Abu Dhabi’s Nova Chemicals which was part of IPIC now merged with Mubadala has also invested in Canada. DP World is another major investor in Canada.
At 150, Canada’s economy is supported by strong fundamentals
The UAE and Canada may be half a world away from each other, but trade links between the two countries are growing.
The UAE investments in Canada are in the range of $10 to $20 billion, Ambassador Husain said. “We expect more investments to flow into Canada as ties between the two countries become stronger. We have about 150 Canadian companies operating in the UAE.”
Canada and UAE could attract more investments once the Foreign Investment Protection Agreement is signed between the two countries. Currently negotiations are on, the ambassador said.
Canada-UAE business ties stronger than ever
The two countries are working to develop a long-term strategic relationship in the aviation sector with emphasis on joint manufacturing possibilities with firms like Strata.
“Canada is huge in the aerospace field. Montreal has an enormous aviation hub for companies like CAE, Bell helicopters. The relationship can get bigger and stronger between the two countries in the coming days.”
Air Canada expects Dubai traffic to climb
For Canada, the UAE offers a hub to distribute its trade goods throughout the Middle East, and further afield into Asia, a role that makes it Canada’s 16th largest trade partner globally. For the UAE, investments in Canada help continue its programme of economic diversification.
Bilateral trade grew 361 per cent between 2005 and 2014, from $564 million to $2.6 billion.
Economic bright spot
Ambassador Husain highlighted the growing links in a letter posted to the Canadian Embassy’s website in November, writing: “The volume of Canadian exports, approximately C$2 billion [about Dh5.6 billion] in 2015, has grown significantly in recent years and the UAE is one of Canada’s largest trading partners in the Middle East and North Africa. The UAE is also a top foreign investor in Canada, and more than 150 Canadian companies have a local or a regional office located in the UAE.”
In an interview with Gulf News in October, Canadian Consul General Emmanuel Kamarianakis explained why. “If you look at what’s happening in this region, this is an economic bright spot,” he said. “I mean, there’s so much economic activity and also a very positive, diverse, tolerant, open and transparent climate that it makes it a natural staging point both to do business here and to do business in the region.”
Canada exports around $400 million worth of agricultural products to the UAE, including $200 million worth of Canola seed and another $100 million in pulses, much of it re-exported to Pakistan, South East Asia and China.
Aviation and automobile parts form a large proportion of Canada’s industrial capacity, which Kamarianakis said aligned with UAE needs.
Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister for International Trade, visited Dubai in March, when he said he’d discussed creating a hangar dedicated to Canadian firms with DP World to improve supply times to customers in the region. “The way to do that is obviously to stock some of the products here in Dubai,” he said.
