Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, during his first official visit to Saudi Arabia. This was the first visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia in 26 years.
The Prime Minister thanked His Royal Highness for his hospitality, and the leaders recognised the growing cooperation between Canada and Saudi Arabia, including the recent Air Transport Agreement to increase air travel, and visits from Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of International Trade, Minister of Artificial Intelligence, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
Prime Minister Carney condemned Iran’s recent attacks on Gulf countries and reaffirmed Canada’s support for the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of countries in the region. The leaders emphasised the importance of de-escalation, protecting civilians, and advancing diplomatic efforts to promote regional stability and security.
The Prime Minister recognised Saudi Arabia’s transformative Vision 2030 strategy, which has led to unprecedented investments in infrastructure, dynamic growth in tourism, and advancements in health and technology. He affirmed Canada’s commitment to building a stronger partnership with Saudi Arabia, built on mutual trust, pragmatic cooperation, and a focus on catalysing benefits for our peoples.
The leaders welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish the Canada-Saudi Arabia Coordination Council, which will strengthen cooperation across key defence, economic, trade and investment, cultural, educational, scientific, and consular priorities.
The leaders discussed harnessing Canadian expertise to catalyse innovations in health and medicine, support renewable energy projects, including wind, solar, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage, and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) to improve and save lives. To accelerate this cooperation, Canada and Saudi Arabia signed two MOUs on energy and AI.
Prime Minister Carney congratulated His Royal Highness for the city of Riyadh winning the bid to host the 2030 World Expo. The Prime Minister was pleased to confirm Canada’s intent to participate to showcase Canadian innovation and expertise in support of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The two leaders underlined the FIFA World Cup as a platform for collaboration and exchange, with Canada currently co-hosting the tournament and Saudi Arabia preparing to host in 2034.
The leaders agreed to remain in close contact.