Hong Kong secured billions of dollars in financial commitment from Saudi Arabia after one of the city’s biggest business delegations to the kingdom sealed almost a dozen deals for start-ups and collaboration accords over three days.
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The highlight of the week was the US$1 billion accord announced on the final day of the 2024 FII summit by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to support companies based in the Greater Bay Area – including Hong Kong – that plan to expand to the Middle East.
Two days earlier, the Saudi incubator agreed to let start-ups at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP) tap into its US$300 million fund for their expertise in artificial intelligence, food technology and biomedical science. Two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) valued at a combined US$1.8 billion began trading this week on the Tadawul exchange, allowing Middle East investors to tap into Hong Kong’s publicly traded companies.
“It is not just talk”, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said at a media briefing in Riyadh. “We have seen more than 10 multimillion-dollar deals made during the past three days. Many Middle Eastern investors have a great interest in investing in Hong Kong and Chinese companies.”
The successful trip by the delegation of 110 officials, executives and start-ups led by Chan was the capstone of two years of bilateral exchanges between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia that began with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s February 2023 trip to Riyadh. This week, Cathay Pacific Airways resumed the direct Hong Kong-Riyadh service that it had halted in 2017.
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The direct flight shaved about five hours off the travelling time between the two cities to nine hours, said Chan after flying on the route on Monday. Cathay Pacific is in code-sharing talks with Riyadh Air to expand each other’s route network after Saudi Arabia’s second carrier placed a multibillion-dollar order of 60 Airbus aircraft.