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 $70 billion UAE commitment he secured on his first visit in November. None of that has been deployed,” said one Canadian official.
UAE commitment remains undepoyed
Carney landed a US$50 billion 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 $2 trillion 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.
Shovel-ready projects needed for September summit
Despite the setback, Charest said Carney was changing the perception that Canada “was extremely difficult to get big projects done”.
Pressure is building for the prime minister to sell “shovel-ready” projects to showcase at the Toronto investor summit in September, which aims to generate $1 trillion in total investment over five years.
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”.
Carney’s trade diversification strategy faces hurdles
Since being sworn into office in March last year, Carney has pledged to double trade with non-United States 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 $135 billion.
While the UAE is an important focus for Carney’s investment diversification, the projects under discussion with the MPO are in pre-deployment phase awaiting the completion of regulatory, legal, consultation and financing considerations.
