Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the margins of the 2026 G7 Leaders’ Summit in Évian, France.
The Prime Minister recognised the newly signed agreement between the United States and Iran, with the imperative of durable resolution of hostilities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon. He reiterated that Canada is ready to support efforts to bring stability and lasting peace to the region.
The Prime Minister conveyed his gratitude to His Highness for his protection of the thousands of Canadians living in the UAE and reaffirmed Canada’s solidarity with the Emirati people.
Building on Prime Minister Carney’s visit to Abu Dhabi in November, which was the first in-person bilateral meeting between Canadian and Emirati leaders since 1983, the Prime Minister and His Highness discussed deepening collaboration across trade and investment.
The leaders noted progress on negotiating a new Canada-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that would cut tariffs, eliminate red tape, and expand market access for Canadian businesses. Crucially, the CEPA will support Canadian businesses to rapidly expand into the UAE across a range of sectors, including engineering, construction, aerospace, agri-food, and seafood. It will also facilitate billions of dollars of UAE investment into major projects such as Canadian ports, mines, LNG, data centres, and critical minerals.
The Prime Minister and His Highness emphasised the Canada-UAE Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA), which is enabling long-term partnerships between Canadian and UAE industries, attracting capital to Canada’s nation-building projects, and helping create high-paying careers for workers in both countries.
The Prime Minister and His Highness agreed to remain in close contact.
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