“It is the recipe for success for us to attract investment.”
Moe has been touting how his Saskatchewan Party government is planting the province’s flag in key markets around the world while arguing the federal Liberal government’s policies are harming industry.
Jason Childs, an associate professor of economics at the University of Regina, said the province is pursuing its own export priorities because the federal government isn’t engaging in trade policy the Saskatchewan government wants.
“It’s really easy for Saskatchewan priorities to get lost as the federal bureaucracy pursues other objectives that are more important to other regions,” Childs said.
Travel around the world was grounded for much of 2020 and 2021, but the Saskatchewan Party government began connecting with governments, industry and other partners internationally as pandemic restrictions loosened the following year.
“The more trade partners we have and the more diversified our trade partners are, the more stable our economy will be,” he said.
Earlier this year, Saskatoon-based Cameco, one of the world’s largest uranium companies, signed a multi-billion-dollar deal with Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy utility, to provide uranium for its nuclear power plants until 2035.
Saskatoon-based Nutrien Ltd. — the world’s largest fertilizer producer — also saw a boon as the war shook up global agricultural markets and reduced supplies of fertilizer from eastern Europe.
The total value of Saskatchewan exports to the world reached a record-breaking $52.6 billion in 2022, said the annual state of trade report released last week — up 42 percent from 2021. A significant portion of the growth was from potash and oil, but agri-food and manufactured goods also saw a record year.
“Saskatchewan exporters are among the best in the world, and our province continues to prove that we have the food, fuel and fertilizer the world needs,” Trade Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a news release.
Childs said while most jurisdictions travel internationally to promote trade, he is not aware of any provinces pursuing global partners as aggressively — or visibly — as Saskatchewan.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government’s policies are often the target of Moe’s criticism. The two leaders have not met in person during either of Trudeau’s two stops in the province so far this year.
“We are going to continue to engage around the world.”