The city’s finance chief has pledged to speed up plans to establish a trade office in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, stressing the need for Hong Kong to further tap Middle Eastern investors seeking to diversify outside the US and Europe because of geopolitical risks.
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Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also noted on his weekly blog on Sunday that flights between the two cities were often fully booked, indicating the potential to increase the frequency of services. Four pairs of flights per week currently operate.
Chan said that while officiating at the Saudi Super Cup football final presentation ceremony at Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday night, he was told by the Saudi organisers that they valued the city’s internationalisation and its strategic role in China and Asia.
“We are stepping up efforts to open an Economic and Trade Office [ETO] in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, to further promote economic, trade and cultural relations between Hong Kong and the Middle East and North Africa,” Chan said without giving an opening date.
The government currently operates one ETO in the Middle East, in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. InvestHK, the government agency responsible for attracting foreign direct investment, has advisory offices in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and the Turkish city of Izmir.
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