Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is off to Europe, leading a provincial trade mission to the United Kingdom and Germany. The mission, which runs from March 28 to April 3, includes a stop at Hannover Messe, the world’s leading industrial trade fair focused on innovation, technology, and advanced manufacturing. Premier Moe is also scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the London Stock Exchange to promote Saskatchewan’s most recent $1 billion USD bond issuance.
Saskatchewan’s Minister of Trade and Export Development, Warren Kaeding, spoke with Discover Weyburn about the importance of the trip, particularly for sectors that are key to the economy of southeast Saskatchewan.
“They’ve been a very strong market for us, certainly in the wheat and lentil business,” Kaeding said of the two nations the premier will be visiting. “I fully expect that where isn't also going to support the region that you’re certainly serving is in the oil and gas sector, and in the resource sector – critical minerals – which your area certainly has a number of them in the ground, and we’re hoping that we can extract more of them over time.”
Kaeding pointed specifically to rare earth elements like lithium, which are increasingly seen as a strategic resource globally. He referenced potential foreign investment into mineral development tied to the push for sustainability and advanced tech.
With European demand growing, Kaeding emphasized the importance of improving transportation infrastructure to get Saskatchewan products to market.
“We need a well-funded transportation strategy,” Kaeding explained. “We need to ensure that the critical elements to enhancing our export opportunities are being looked at, managed, and financed here in Canada.”
He also noted that part of the mission’s purpose is to explore how international partnerships could potentially support investments in Canada’s infrastructure, further easing the path for southeast Saskatchewan’s producers and industries.
For small and rural businesses in communities like Kipling, Carlyle, and Weyburn, Kaeding pointed to the value of joining STEP—the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership—as a first step toward international exposure.
“STEP is responsible for highlighting the opportunities for all of the membership, and even those that aren't, but certainly focusing on their members and providing them opportunities around the world,” he said. “STEP in turn would certainly be reaching out to our trade offices as well as we do in government to ensure that we explore all the opportunities both outbound and inbound into the province.”
These trade offices, he added, are also positioned to help local companies establish distributorships and navigate international regulations, while also identifying investment and export opportunities abroad.