Moe returns from UAE after energy, agriculture talks

Saskatchewan is trying to strengthen its ties with the United Arab Emirates.

Premier Scott Moe recently returned from a diplomatic trip to the country in the Middle East, more than 10,000 kilometres away from our province.

He joined Gormley on Friday to talk about the experience and what he hopes to accomplish.

For one, why work with a country that’s so far away?

“They are a significant destination point for our (agricultural) products. I believe last year our ag exports to the UAE were up about 50 per cent, so (it’s) really an opportunity for us to further that relationship,” Moe explained.

Saskatchewan opened a trade office in Dubai early this year, something Moe is glad to have done.

“It’s the only provincial office that’s open in the UAE, and we had some great dialogue in our time there,” he said.

Moe acknowledges it’s a bit unusual for a province to be making such big moves with another country, since trade is usually handled on the federal level.

“The trade relationship should be more federal,” he said. “We’ve seen various federal administrations to varying levels reach out and … ambitiously pursue trade relationships with countries around the world. What we’re doing is in addition to that, augmenting that federal effort.

“We saw under the (Stephen) Harper administration very ambitious outreach … (It’s) less so with the current administration, admittedly. This is a time for us in Saskatchewan to take care of our own and take care of our own business, and that’s precisely what we’re doing.”

Agriculture and energy are two of Saskatchewan’s biggest industries, and Moe would like to work with the UAE on both. He’d like to send more crops to that country, but he believes there’s a lot of opportunity for energy as well.

“We signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with their minister of energy while we were there, to work on small modular reactors (SMR) and to work on the potential to collaborate on hydrogen production as well,” Moe said. “This is something that the UAE is very, very interested in.”

Nuclear energy is another area where Moe hopes Saskatchewan products can end up in the country.

“Not only are they a potential customer for companies like Cameco, but they are also very willing to push and to collaborate in the area of innovation around SMRs. They can see some real use for SMRs in various areas … So we were pleased to sign that MOU,” he said.

“We very much collaborated on how we’re going to power our respective provinces and countries into the future.”

Moe also took the time to share his sympathy with the UAE over the death of its president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan. He died at age 73 on Friday, shortly after Moe’s return.

“Most certainly, our condolences are extended to all of the people in or connected to the United Arab Emirates in this time of loss,” Moe said.