Jeddah, July (پاکستان پوائنٹ نیوز 10 يوليو 2026ء) The forum, held on the sidelines of the Canadian prime minister's visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, focused on several strategic sectors, including mining and critical minerals, financial services, advanced industries, artificial intelligence and data centers, and skills development, aligning with the Kingdom's national development priorities and reflecting Canadian expertise.
Within the framework of Saudi Vision 2030, the Kingdom offers a broad scope for growth, reform momentum, advanced infrastructure, capital, and a platform for accessing regional and global markets. Meanwhile, Canadian companies and institutions possess world-class capabilities in mining and critical minerals, engineering, financial services, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and skills development. Through this synergy, the two countries can transform the renewed bilateral momentum into partnerships, projects, and value chains that support industrial growth, innovation, economic diversification, and shared prosperity. The forum connects the Kingdom's Vision 2030 with Canadian expertise, capital, and innovation, extending opportunities beyond the Kingdom to include expansion into regional and global markets.
While the Kingdom offers international investors long-term demand, advanced infrastructure, and a clear investment journey through the Ministry of Investment and the Invest Saudi platform, Canadian companies bring globally recognized capabilities to sectors central to Saudi Vision 2030. The Ministry of Investment and the Invest Saudi platform will connect interested investors with sectoral opportunities, government entities, private-sector partners, and practical information regarding the investor journey.
Saudi Arabia’s mineral wealth is estimated at approximately $2.5 trillion across an area of more than 2.1 million square kilometers. The Kingdom has identified opportunities in more than 50 minerals and is accelerating exploration work within the Arabian Shield.
Canadian companies and investors are already operating in Saudi Arabia, including Barrick and Ivanhoe Electric, which are collaborating with the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) to explore approximately 48,500 square kilometers. Manara Minerals, a joint venture between the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Ma’aden, also holds a 10% stake in Vale Base Metals, further strengthening shared Saudi-Canadian interests in copper and nickel.
The Kingdom offers Canadian capital deeper access to a dynamic regional financial ecosystem, enabling Canadian investment institutions, asset managers, insurance companies, fintech firms, and financial service providers to participate in the growth of the Kingdom’s capital, debt, sukuk, insurance, and venture capital markets.
The Saudi Stock Exchange’s market capitalization reached approximately SAR9.44 trillion ($2.53 trillion) as of June 2026. This expansion in access for foreign investors provides a clearer pathway for international institutions to participate in the growth of the Saudi market. This deep liquidity offers Canadian asset managers, insurance firms, and fintech companies unprecedented access to rapidly expanding debt, sukuk, and venture capital markets.
The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and National Industrial Strategy create a long-term platform for industrial investment, enabling Canadian companies to leverage infrastructure, industrial cities, and special economic zones to expand production and exports.
The Kingdom aims to reach 35,000 factories by 2035, with industrial investments approaching SAR2 trillion. It also aims to increase the industrial sector’s contribution to GDP to approximately SAR895 billion by 2030.
Canadian manufacturing firms, notably Ingenia Polymers, are already leveraging the Kingdom's infrastructure and access to regional markets to expand production and export capabilities.
This bilateral synergy extends into advanced technology, pairing Canada's premier AI research with Saudi Arabia's computing power and energy infrastructure. The Kingdom is targeting 6.6 gigawatts of AI data center capacity by 2034. Key milestones include a $3 billion AI data center complex developed by AirTrunk—backed by Canada’s CPP Investments—in partnership with Humain, alongside ongoing cooperation with Cohere to advance Arabic-language AI models.
Saudi industrial and technological transformation requires continuous workforce development and Canadian institutions have strong international capabilities in technical and vocational education. These skills partnerships are designed to localize capacity and develop the specialized workforce required to drive the Kingdom’s industrial and technological transformation.
