The federal government has launched its long-awaited Indigenous loan guarantee program, a move advocates say will help Canadian critical minerals infrastructure get built more quickly, and facilitate increased direct First Nations ownership in resource projects…Ottawa’s budget released Tuesday outlines a program that would provide up to $5-billion in loan guarantees and be “sector agnostic” – meaning that oil and gas projects could be eligible…A federal loan guarantee program will help Canada develop important infrastructure including new mines, said coalition chief executive director Niilo Edwards…“It’s a game changer in terms of filling a financing gap for Indigenous participation as equity owners in major projects across the country – and will empower free, prior and informed business decisions to take shape,” Mr. Edwards said…With the federal government as a guarantor, First Nations could see loans granted up to 500 basis points lower than they would normally qualify for, Mr. Saddique estimates…Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada, said the loan-guarantee program could allow Indigenous communities to invest in stable revenue-generating projects that service the mining sector, such as power stations.

Today, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh and Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Jan Christian Vestre signaled their intent to move forward with a U.S.-Norway Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Concerning Cooperation on High-Standard, Market-Oriented Trade of Critical Minerals. The MoU is an important step towards further strengthening the United States and Norway’s future strategic cooperation regarding critical minerals…With this MOU, the United States and Norway intend to deepen our partnership in pursuit of the long-term commercial viability of sustainable, high-standard, market-oriented critical minerals mining and processing activities in the United States, Norway, and globally.

Volkswagen AG said on Wednesday it has developed a new architecture for intelligent and electric cars with its Chinese partner Xpeng which the German automaker said will help it offer more affordable EVs in its biggest market…Volkswagen plans to use the China Electrical Architecture (CEA) in locally developed VW-branded EVs from 2026, it said…CEA will help it achieve a cost reduction target of 40% for its China-developed platform compared to its German-developed MEB platform by reducing the number of control units, the company added. The architecture uses a central computer and a zonal structure to control all electronics to achieve functions such as autonomous driving…"Competition is very fierce, and we have to adapt our cost structure to be competitive in this environment," Volkswagen Group board member and China chief Ralf Brandstaetter told reporters on Wednesday…The announcement followed a partnership forged last year, when Volkswagen bought 4.99% of Xpeng for around $700 million with plans to jointly launch two Volkswagen-branded EV models by 2026…Volkswagen ceded its title of best-selling car brand in China to local EV maker BYD in late 2022. Its market share in China dropped to 14% last year from 18% in 2018 amid declining combustion-engine sales.