On October 13, 2010, the Government of Canada announced that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in healthcare has been signed between Canada and Saudi Arabia. According to Canada' Minister of International Trade, Peter Van Loan, "This agreement will increase cooperation between our countries in health and medicine. It will create a positive environment for Canadian businesses to participate in major Saudi health care projects. Our government is committed to promoting Canadian expertise in key markets around the world, including Saudi Arabia."
The two countries will be cooperating on several initiatives, including exchange of information, lessons learned, best practices and specialists for mutually beneficial projects.
Saudi Arabia is expanding its health care system as part of its planned expenditures of $400 billion in its five-year development plan (2010 to 2014).
Over 10,000 Saudi government-sponsored students are studying in Canada, including 800 Saudi doctors and medical students pursuing graduate studies in Canada’s hospitals and universities. These students represent an annual positive economic impact on the Canadian economy of approximately $420 million.
