Loan was speaking to journalists after holding wide-ranging talks with several senior Saudi officials including Prince Khaled bin Sultan, assistant minister of defense and aviation for military affairs, and Abdullah Zainal Alireza, minister of commerce and industry, here on Wednesday. The minister, who wrapped up his three-day visit to Riyadh after addressing a group of Saudi and Canadian businessmen at the Council of Saudi Chamber on Wednesday afternoon, said that his talks with Saudi officials focused mainly on security and defense, health and education, and trade and investment.

It was not immediately known whether the minister raised the issue of Mohammed Kohail, a Canadian national who was sentenced to be executed for his part in a schoolyard brawl in Jeddah in 2007. But early this year, friends and family of Kohail took a sigh of relief after a senior Saudi court gave a ruling, lifting the death sentence imposed on the 24-year-old. The minister said in an earlier interview that he would speak to officials about Kohail during his meetings in Riyadh.

Asked about the investment protection accord, Van Loan said: “We are committed to negotiating a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement with Saudi Arabia.” Canadian and Saudi officials have already explored this during their discussions in 2008, and “we expect to host a further round of discussions by the end of 2010.”

Van Loan said that there was great potential between Riyadh and Ottawa to work closely in several sectors.

He also reminded Saudi businessmen about “Canada’s attractive free-enterprise environment, which is ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the best place to do business in the G-7 this year and over the next four years.” Canada holds the strongest fiscal position in the G-7; recording the fastest economic growth in the G-7 in 2010, said the minister, while speaking at the Council of Saudi Chamber.

Speaking about the Saudi-Canada partnership, Loan said that Canada was very excited about doing “more business with the Kingdom — not only because you’re one of the world’s top oil producers, but also because of your position as an economic leader in the Arab world, a region of 280 million consumers, with a combined gross domestic product approaching $2 trillion.” Our two-way merchandise trade has already reached $2.7 billion last year, making Saudi Arabia our largest trading partner in the Middle East, he added.

“We offer great expertise in a number of sectors, including transportation, oil and gas, high technology, agriculture, environmental sciences and infrastructure,” he added. From aerospace and defense to education and health care, Canada has a lot to offer, said the minister. Canada also sees a number of partnership opportunities opening up for Canadian companies in aerospace and defense, education, health care and construction through Saudi Arabia’s five-year development plan, explained Loan.