Carney visits Saudi Arabian royalty to deepen bilateral trade investments

Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Saudi Arabia Thursday and met with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, as he seeks to deepen bilateral trade and investment.

It comes years after diplomatic strain between the two countries.

Carney and the crown prince participated in a signing ceremony at the Saudi Arabia-Canada Investment forum.

13 agreements were signed across education, critical minerals, energy, infrastructure, security, and artificial intelligence to name a few items.

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Carney said Thursday’s meeting is part of the next phase of “building up.”

This trip marks the first made by a Canadian prime minister to the kingdom in 26 years.

Diplomatic rifts between Canada and Saudi Arabia over human rights disputes had festered for a number of years, including over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, while at the same time, the Canadian ambassador under the Trudeau government was expelled.

Fast forward to 2023, when new ambassadors were appointed and the rift began to be repaired.

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Carney made it clear Thursday where he stands when it comes to questions of human rights.

One expert says while some Canadians may be upset with Carney working with Saudi Arabia, Akaash Maharaj with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy believes the prime minister has chosen the potential economic benefits over the past strains, with the way Canada’s economy is now.

“There’s no denying that Canada is at a moment of economic turmoil — the trade war with the United States has had an adverse impact on our economy,” said Maharaj. “Saudi Arabia has the world’s fifth largest sovereign wealth fund. It is about $1.2 trillion and it uses about one fifth of that fund to invest abroad. Mark Carney is clearly hoping that the Saudis can be charmed into investing some of that money in Canada, especially in some of the large infrastructure projects that he has in mind.”

The prime minister’s meetings Thursday included the CEO of a Saudi gas company, the head of a Saudi state-owned mining company, and their industry and mineral resources minister.

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