Qatar has committed to significant strategic investments in Canada’s nation-building projects, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday, framing the pledge as a new chapter that he argues will accelerate build timelines and supercharge Canada’s energy industries while creating thousands of high-paying careers for Canadians.
Carney announced the commitment after meeting Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, and tied the investment push to the planned finalization of the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Qatar, which he said has faced years of stalled negotiations.
“We are raising our relationship and our level of alignment by making friends with strategic partners,” Carney said. “To launch this new chapter in our relationship, I’m pleased to announce that Qatar has committed to make significant strategic investments in Canada’s nation-building projects.”
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Carney said the capital will help projects get built faster, and positioned the agreement as a two-way commercial unlock: it would allow Canadian businesses to “more easily” expand operations in Qatar while also attracting investment from the Gulf state into Canada.
The prime minister framed the Qatar alignment inside a broader critique of the current trade environment, telling reporters that multilateral relationships are being eroded, leading to a reduction in freer trade, with more commerce “tariff-based or otherwise restricted… and virtually no multilateral progress.”
He said the practical arena for forward motion is “pluriality deals,” which he defined as arrangements among multiple countries but not all countries.
A readout from the Prime Minister’s Office said air services between Canada and Qatar will be expanded, and that Canada will post a defence attaché in Qatar.
The PMO also said the two countries agreed to launch negotiations on a new framework focused on military, security, and defence matters, and to expand investment opportunities in areas such as AI.
Carney said he invited the Emir to visit Canada later this year and attend the World Cup match between their two countries with him.
The Qatar announcement lands amid what Carney described as a “slew of agreements” and international travel to discuss trade deals since his election last year. On Friday, Canada announced that 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles would soon be imported each year under a lowered 6.1% tariff after Carney struck a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Carney said Sunday that Xi showed interest in expanding China’s trade relations with other countries, which he used to justify Canada pursuing additional trade and investment relationships, including with Qatar, in what he called a “more uncertain and dangerous world.”
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