Senior Executives of leading businesses and Federal Ministers from Canada and the United Arab Emirates have gathered this week in Ottawa, Canada, for the bi-annual Board of Directors meeting of the Canada-UAE Business Council (CUBC). The Canada-UAE Business Council is the premier organization facilitating greater trade and investment between Canada and the United Arab Emirates. Spearheaded by the foreign ministers of Canada and the United Arab Emirates in 2013, the CUBC has become the shared economic prosperity pillar of the bilateral relationship. Musabbeh Al Kaabi (Co-Chair of the CUBC and CEO of UAE Investments Platform, Mubadala Investment Company) and Jean Charest (Co-Chair of the CUBC and Partner, McCarthy Tetreault) presided over the meeting hosted at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Ottawa, Canada. In their opening statements, the Co-chairs emphasized that Canada and the United Arab Emirates share strong commercial and people-to-people ties. The Co-Chairs highlighted recent bilateral successes, including Mubadala Capital’s acquisition of logistics business Canada Cartage, DP World’s development project for pulses with Adroit Canada and historic investment at Port Saint John, and Brookfield’s acquisition of First Abu Dhabi Bank’s payment unit, Magnati. The Co-Chairs stressed that vast opportunities for collaboration exist, particularly around food security, healthcare, innovation, education, and the energy transition as both countries aim to decarbonize their natural resources sectors and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
The United Arab Emirates was the first country in the Middle East and North Africa region to launch a strategy for net-zero emissions by 2050. As part of this national drive, the United Arab Emirates will host the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in November 2023 at Expo City Dubai. The event will be the occasion of a crucial global stock-take, with the guiding principle of inclusivity to reflect the views and contributions of the public and private sectors, academics, and civil society. The Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, His Excellency Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada, The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Transport of Canada, The Honourable Omar Alghabra, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Canada, His Excellency Fahad Al Raqbani, and the Ambassador of Canada to the United Arab Emirates, His Excellency Kris Panday, attended the meeting and underscored the importance of the Canada-United Arab Emirates strategic partnership, and the role of the CUBC in fostering the growing bilateral economic relationship. The Ministers invited the Business Council to explore avenues for further collaboration to expand trade and investment flow, and boost job creation in both countries. Building off the discussion, Board members stressed the need for improved air connectivity to unlock the bilateral economic growth potential.
The Canada-UAE Business Council remains committed to promoting long-term economic and commercial ties between Canada and the United Arab Emirates. "We are pleased to serve as Canada’s number one export market in the Middle East & North Africa region, and stand as Canada’s 15th largest foreign direct investor, but this is just a small percentage of what can be achieved between our two strong trading nations. We were proud to host EXPO Dubai this past year and deepen international collaboration in culture, trade and innovation, and we look forward to hosting Cop28 next November to further develop government-private sector solutions to create a sustainable environment for all, where no country is left behind." The Canada-UAE Business Council (CUBC) is the premier business-led organization advancing commercial relations between Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Membership is by invitation only and is focused at the executive level. Board members are leading companies in Canada and the United Arab Emirates: ADX, Al Jaber Group, Al Otaiba Enterprises, Brookfield, DP World, Cameron Development Corporation, EllisDon, Essa Al Ghurair Investments, Etihad, Globesight, Gowling WLG, Hatch, McCarthy Tétrault, Mubadala Investment Group, SkyPower Global, TAQA Global, TD Securities Inc., and Trimark Capital Group.