Today, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, met virtually with H.E. Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Financial Affairs. The ministers discussed the shared priority of negotiations towards a Canada-UAE foreign investment promotion and protection agreement (FIPA).
Minister Ng congratulated the UAE's successful hosting of Conference of the Parties (COP 28) and reiterated Canada's commitment to working closely together to advance climate objectives, including the recent launch of the cement and concrete breakthrough initiative that will be co-led by Canada and the UAE. This new initiative will help countries share best practices on a range of policies and other measures to decarbonize the cement and concrete sector and pave the way to achieve net-zero carbon cement and concrete by 2050.
Following yesterday's meeting of WTO trade ministers hosted by the UAE, Minister Ng emphasized that Canada remains strongly committed to working with other WTO members towards a successful 13th WTO Ministerial Conference scheduled for February 26-29, 2024.
Building on many shared priorities between Canada and the UAE, the ministers also highlighted the Joint Cooperation Committee, a new bilateral framework that will solidify and enhance the strong partnership that already exists between both countries.
