The Honourable Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade, led a Canada Trade Mission to Italy this past week, joined by a delegation of more than 75 Canadian businesses and stakeholders to explore commercial opportunities in Rome and Milan. The mission underscored Canada's commitment to diversifying trade and fostering strategic partnerships in the region.
Minister Sidhu focused on deepening Canada and Italy's trade, commerce and investment ties in a meeting with Antonio Tajani, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, while Minister Tajani agreed to work toward bringing a trade delegation to Canada. Minister Sidhu also encouraged progress toward Italy's ratification of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
While in Rome, Minister Sidhu hosted a round-table discussion on strengthening collaboration in the defence and security sector. The round table brought together global leaders in the defence space to strengthen Canada-Italy industrial cooperation as well as identify investment and partnership opportunities across the sector.
Minister Sidhu then travelled to Milan, where he hosted a networking event with key government and business stakeholders of the Milanese business community. Being in Milan allowed Minister Sidhu to visit Tenaris a key player in Canada's steel industry, as well as Stantec, a global leader in sustainable engineering, architecture and environmental consulting headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. Both site visits highlighted the strength of Canadian and Italian collaboration.
As part of the trade mission, Minister Sidhu was able to witness further collaboration through the signings of three significant agreements:
- A memorandum of understanding establishes a collaborative relationship between the Canadian Hydrogen Association and the Italian Hydrogen Association to build a practical platform for exchange and collaboration.
- An agreement between DataPeak and Bonetto Group allows Bonetto to use DataPeak artificial intelligence technology to improve manufacturing processes and predictable maintenance for their customers.
- A new strategic partnership between Lowfoot and eGlue combines Lowfoot's advanced energy data analytics with eGlue's established leadership in the Italian customer communication management market.
Over the course of the mission, Minister Sidhu connected with his delegation of Canadian businesses, congratulating them for taking the important steps to grow their companies internationally at a time when diversifying trade is more critical than ever. He also emphasized the long-term potential of the Italian market and encouraged delegates to build on the relationships and momentum generated during the trade mission.
