Prime Minister Mark Carney signed an investment-protection agreement Thursday with the United Arab Emirates during a visit to Abu Dhabi that has involved limited media access as concerns grow the country is fuelling ethnic violence in Sudan.
Carney announced the investment pact after a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and also launched talks for a full trade deal aimed at an eventual comprehensive economic partnership agreement.
The prime minister also met Thursday morning with Industry Minister Sultan al-Jaber before touring a palatial mosque in Abu Dhabi. He followed that with afternoon meetings with local sovereign wealth funds and investment companies including Mubadala, MGX, ADQ and ADIC, ahead of a dinner hosted by the UAE's national security adviser.
The visit comes just one month after the two countries signed an agreement to boost collaboration on artificial intelligence and data centres.
Janice Stein, founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, said the UAE is becoming a leader in AI and can help Canada through both investment and innovation.
On a visit to the country earlier this year, she saw extensive AI adoption as well as enthusiasm from government officials for Carney — a former central banker and UN envoy — to visit the country.
"It is very prescient for the prime minister to go — and go early," Stein said in an interview Tuesday.
"They know him from his previous career, and so I think this is absolutely the right decision."
The UAE is using its cheap energy to power data centres, similar to how Canadian firms hope to use Alberta's oilsands.
"It's going to be one of the powerhouses, one of the nodes in the global economy that's built around AI," Stein said of the UAE.
The country has also secured a promise from U.S. President Donald Trump that it will be able to access the most advanced American chip technology, despite concerns from some U.S. officials over how much the Emirates is co-operating with China.
Former Quebec premier Jean Charest is co-chair of the Canada-UAE Business Council, which Carney is set to address on Friday.
Charest told reporters in Abu Dhabi that signing an investment pact "is a prelude to a trade agreement, in any scenario that Canada has been in." He said a full trade agreement with the UAE "should be fairly straightforward" because of Carney's visit.
"The only way Canada is going to have trade agreements with … new regions in the world is if the prime minister is the one who leads it," Charest said.
He noted that large UAE investors already have a stake in major Canadian infrastructure, and the UAE aims to position itself as the financial centre of the entire Gulf region.
"We have a lot in common, because we're each in our own way a hub to the rest of the world," he said.
On Thursday, Carney toured the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, a sprawling facility featuring 82 domes that claims to house the world's largest hand-knotted carpet. Carney noted the building includes materials from around the world.
He said the materials were brought together in an "inspiring" way, and that it is "a testament to the Emirati people to have conceived, created, built and shared this with humanity."
Carney's remarks were his only words to media expected Thursday, with his visit not scheduled to include a news conference. His Emirati hosts have barred media from the bilateral meetings that most countries make open to visiting journalists.
The limited availability comes as the UAE faces growing criticism over widespread allegations it is supporting a militia in the Sudan civil war that is undertaking shocking ethnic violence — something the UAE denies.
Civil war erupted between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023. The paramilitary RSF succeeded the Janjaweed militia that was behind the first Darfur genocide between 2003 and 2005.
Members of the RSF have posted on social media multiple videos of mass killings, often with ethnic taunts.
The UAE has said there is no substantiated evidence that it has armed the group despite a UN report saying there are "credible" allegations.
A readout of Carney's meeting with Sheikh Mohamed did not mention Sudan, but it did name Palestine.
Stein said the UAE is involved in the conflict despite its instances to the contrary, but she noted Abu Dhabi has also made recent moves toward peace that haven't been seen on the opposite side of the civil war in Sudan.
"The UAE is one of the principal arms suppliers to the RSF," she said.
"The Rapid Support Forces have accepted a ceasefire that the Trump administration put forward, and the UAE was instrumental (in that). It's not forthcoming from the military."
After addressing business leaders Friday, Carney will travel to South Africa for the G20 leaders' summit in Johannesburg.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
