News

Our President and CEO, Pierre Gabriel Côté, was in Davos from January 17 to 20 to attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEF). Mr. Côté took part in more than a dozen meetings with global business leaders alongside Québec Premier Philippe Couillard and Dominique Anglade, Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation. Mr. Côté also attended several workshops on protectionism and responsible investment.

Major Investments for Québec
Close to $640 million in investments for Québec from global companies Siemens, Microsoft, ABB and ArcelorMittal were also announced during the WEF.

Siemens will invest $110.6 million at its Dorval plant to design aeroderivative gas turbines as well as $22 million to implement an Industry 4.0 expertise platform in collaboration with Investissement Québec and other partners and an integrated training system for the workplace inspired from the German dual model.

“Siemens Canada is known around the world for manufacturing innovation. Our numerous discussions with Siemens spurred our reflection on our Manufacturing Initiative,” declared Pierre Gabriel Côté.

Following the acquisition of Maluuba, a Montréal start-up specialized in artificial intelligence, Microsoft announced that it will double the company’s size. Its goal is to accelerate the design of software enabling computers to read, write and conduct conversations in a natural manner, like human beings.

For its part, ABB has chosen Montréal as the home of its North American centre of excellence in electric mobility, a $90-million investment. The centre will design and commercialize innovative technologies for implementing energy management solutions with applications in electric buses and trains.

ArcelorMittal will invest close to $500 million over the next few years in order to boost productivity at the Fire Lake mine and Mont-Wright mining complex, and maintain current operations at Port Cartier. The investments were made possible in part by the electricity rebate program announced by the Québec government in 2016.

A record number of 3,000 business executives, dignitaries and experts from some 100 countries took part in the meeting this year. At the top of the forum agenda: global economic growth, social inclusion, the Fourth Industrial Revolution the strengthening of global ties.