RIYADH: On the sidelines of OpenText’s regional headquarters opening in Riyadh, Canada’s Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu told Arab News that Saudi-Canadian cooperation will “speed up” under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new government.

“You are going to see a quick speeding up of this relationship in 2026,” Sidhu said.

“This was my first visit to the region, and I did that on purpose because this region plays a vital role to Canada. This is about friendship and, of course, allyship,” he added.

During the visit, Sidhu will hold meetings in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE with a Canadian senior-level business delegation.

When asked about the primary goal of the visit to the Kingdom, he said: “Well, for this visit, I think it is about connectivity — making sure conversations happen between the Saudi ecosystem, Saudi businesses, and Canadian businesses.

“But of course, government-to-government is very important to establish initiatives that enable more businesses.”

The minister noted that two-way trade between Saudi Arabia and Canada currently stands at $4 billion, with room to grow.

“Right now, I am focused on opening doors for businesses on both sides, but also to show collaboration. You are seeing a lot more coming. Companies set up their regional hubs here to create economic opportunities.”

During his visit, Sidhu met with Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih to discuss advancing Saudi-Canadian industry and investment partnerships and supporting both countries’ trade diversification efforts.

In November 2025, a high-level Saudi delegation led by Al-Falih visited Ottawa, during which both sides announced the reactivation of the Joint Economic Commission.

More than 150 Canadian companies are currently active in the Kingdom, in sectors such as artificial intelligence, mining, creative economy, healthcare, and defense.

Sidhu aims to use his visit to further business-to-business cooperation, both in the Kingdom and in Canada.

“We are also welcoming Saudi companies to come to Canada because the physical distance between our two nations is very wide, and we serve different regions,” Sidhu said.

“And so there is a lot of complementary opportunities that we should be looking at. In Canada, we have 15 trade agreements with 51 countries. We welcome Saudi companies to set up there, just as OpenText has done in the region, to continue collaborating.”

During the interview, the minister also highlighted mining as a key area of cooperation and said he hopes to further develop it.

Sidhu noted that more than 100 Canadian companies are participating in the Future Minerals Forum, running until Jan. 15 in Riyadh.

The minister also said that defense cooperation will expand, noting that while 40 Canadian companies participated in 2025, this year’s World Defense Show will welcome 80.

Sidhu also met with Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha to discuss strengthening bilateral partnerships in AI, innovation, and advanced technologies, supporting Saudi Arabia’s goal to become a global hub for AI and the digital economy.

Closing the interview, Sidhu noted the many similarities between the two countries: “We (Saudi Arabia and Canada) are roughly 40 million people, and we have a lot of alignment in education, healthcare, and tourism.”