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Carney Pitches Canada to Investors 09/14 06:29
TORONTO (AP) -- U.S. President Donald Trump wants factories and investment
moving south to the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is
betting he can make billions flow north.
About 300 CEOs and senior executives from some of the world's biggest
investment firms will descend on the Four Seasons in Yorkville, a tony Toronto
enclave of high-end restaurants and designer boutiques, for Carney's Canada
Investment Summit this week.
The investors collectively manage more than $120 trillion in assets,
underscoring the scale of capital Carney hopes to tap as Canada tries to
attract billions in new investment and reduce its economic dependence on the
United States.
"Canada is about so much more than being next to the United States," Carney
said. "We have what the world wants."
Carney pointed to Canada's vast energy and critical-mineral resources, its
highly educated workforce and trade agreements that give businesses based in
Canada access to roughly 1.5 billion consumers around the world.
He said the turnout showed investors were interested in Canada on its own
merits.
"They are coming because of Canada," he said. "If they wanted to go to the
United States they would go to the United States."
Few people know this crowd better than Carney. He ran the central banks of
Canada and England, spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs and later chaired the
boards of Bloomberg L.P. and Brookfield Asset Management, putting him very much
in his element among the global investors and money managers gathering at the
Four Seasons.
A Canadian official described the summit as the largest gathering of
investment decision-makers ever assembled in Canada, alongside Canadian CEOs
bringing projects at varying stages of readiness. But the official cautioned
that the summit is not expected to produce a rush of deals this week, with the
most significant results likely to emerge over the next 12 to 18 months. The
official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
speak publicly about the matter.
A trade war raises the stakes
But the summit comes at a critical moment for Canada. Trade talks collapsed
Aug. 21, then Trump imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian goods
and Canada retaliated. Washington then raised the stakes again, announcing bans
on some Canadian imports and moving to shut Canadian products out of large,
long-term U.S. government contracts.
Trump's tariffs and efforts to shift manufacturing south of the border are
undermining what was long one of the country's biggest attractions to foreign
investors: reliable access to the enormous U.S. market under continental free
trade.
Carney and business leaders will urge global investors to look past the
trade war and make a bigger bet on Canada.
Carney is drawing a pointed contrast with Trump's America, pitching Canada
as a stable, rules-based alternative to an increasingly unpredictable United
States.
Investors coming to Canada will find "a country that respects rule of law
and a country that is reliable," Carney said.
"That combination is pretty rare in the world," he said. "And it's an
attractive combination."
Carney sharpened the message Sunday, telling Canadian business leaders that
Canada's greatest strength was something "that cannot be found on any balance
sheet: trust."
John Graham, CEO of CPP Investments, one of the world's largest
institutional investors and the manager of Canada Pension Plan assets, is
helping host the summit. He said the fund compares investment opportunities in
Canada with those around the world.
"The conversation about Canada is changing," Graham said.
Summit aims to channel global capital into Canadian projects
The summit is aimed at matching global capital -- including Canada's pension
funds, which rank among the world's biggest institutional investors -- with
major projects in critical minerals, technology, defense, advanced
manufacturing and energy.
Carney's private meetings will be tailored to investors' portfolios and the
types of projects they are interested in financing, according to a Canadian
official.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Blackstone President Jon Gray will headline a
public discussion on global capital, while former Conservative Prime Minister
Stephen Harper is scheduled to close the summit. Carney then heads to Europe,
where he will address the European Parliament later in the week as Canada seeks
a broader strategic partnership with the EU.
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