Canada tells UAE it is not ready for its C$70bn investment

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    > Prime Minister Mark Carney’s flagship investment agency has delivered a blunt message to United Arab Emirates officials looking to pour billions of dollars into Canada: we have nowhere to put your money.

    > Three officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Calgary-based Major Projects Office in mid-June told an official UAE delegation it was too soon to inject capital into Canada.

    > “The PM keeps talking about the C$70bn [US$49bn] UAE commitment he secured on his first visit in November. None of that has been deployed,” said one Canadian official.

    > Carney landed a US$50bn commitment from UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who made the official announcement in November. Oil-rich Abu Dhabi manages almost $2tn in sovereign funds.

    > But after Carney hosted a UAE-Canada Business Council meeting in Ottawa in mid-June, the MPO turned away members from the Emirati delegation who were seeking investment opportunities, the officials said. The reason was a lack of projects at a stage where they could deploy the money.

    > Former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who is the co-chair of the council, said the MPO was “only one bucket of potential projects”.

    > “They [the MPO] gave them the only answer they could give them, at this point, we’re not ready. But that is the same answer for everyone,” he said.

    > A UAE official said the proposed investments “will undergo the natural progression of foreign investments, which entails a thorough review of opportunities and planning that normally requires time to move forward”.

    > “We continue to work closely with Canada on all levels — federal, provincial, and with the private sector,” the official said, describing the Canada-UAE relation as “one of the most important partnerships globally”.

    > Since being sworn into office in March last year, Carney has pledged to double trade with non-US partners while also transforming Canada’s sluggish economy into the “strongest in the G7”.

    > Nearly a year ago, he established the MPO as a new government agency to fast-track more than 20 projects worth a total of $135bn

    > Carney has also ordered staff to finalise a UAE-Canada trade agreement expected to be signed this month.

    > While in the UAE in November, Carney boasted that a critical minerals agreement valued at “over $1bn” was “in the process of being finalised”. Nine months later, it has not materialised.

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