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Sharjah / Emirates Business
Sharjah’s business links with the world’s second largest country was the topic on the table when Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) hosted a trade meeting with a delegation from Canada. The roundtable event saw the two parties assess an array of initiatives that have the potential to lead to significant mutual benefits for Canada and the UAE.
Aimed at exploring bilateral investment opportunities as part of Shurooq’s efforts to enhance Sharjah’s economic landscape through increased trade cooperation, the meeting was chaired by His Excellency Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of Shurooq.
Heading the Canadian delegation was Her Excellency Deb Matthews, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, Minister Responsible for Digital Government and Deputy Premier of Ontario. Also including His Excellency Michael Chan, Minister of International Trade and his Excellency Emmanuel Kamarianakis, Consul General of Canada to Dubai and the Northern Emirates, the delegation discussed with Al Sarkal and his Shurooq team how the province of Ontario is one of the strongest in Canada in economic terms and responsible for a quarter of the country’s GDP. For his turn, Al Sarkal underlined the importance of strengthening trade exchange between Sharjah and Ontario and attracting more Canadian investments to Sharjah.
“The Canadian delegation members were very interested in finding out more about Sharjah’s environment that supports business growth and expansion and were impressed by the investment opportunities that we discussed with them. For their part, Minister Mathews and Minister Chan pointed out that Sharjah can benefit from the experience of Canadian companies to develop its economy. They noted that these companies use modern technology, skills and talents and are able to achieve more positive impact in their respective fields. We aim to attract such companies and widen the scope of joint trade exchange to a higher level,†said Al Sarkal.
Her Excellency Deb Matthews, Canadian Minister, stressed that the government of Ontario province is interested in enhancing economic collaboration with the UAE in general. She highlighted the importance of establishing stringer relations with the government, the private sector and the organisations within the UAE with the aim of strengthening partnerships, innovation, trade and investment in sectors such as life sciences, information technology, telecommunications, banking and financial sciences, food and agriculture, clean technology and infrastructure.
“Enhancing joint cooperation with the Emirate of Sharjah is important, because Sharjah and Ontario have many common factors. They are both key industrial centres in their respective countries and they seek to improve their stature through triggering mutual industrial investments. Sharjah provides Canadian investors with remarkable business opportunities in vibrant promising sectors such as renewable energy and technology,†she added.
Shurooq’s meeting with the trade delegation from Canada was the latest in its programme of meeting with business entities from across the world to enhance links with global economies, with a key emphasis placed on four key sectors; tourism and leisure, healthcare, transport and logistics, and real estate and the environment.