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As economic ties between Asia and the Gulf continue to deepen, Hong Kong is strengthening its role as a strategic bridge between capital, innovation, and global markets. Since its establishment in 2021, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Dubai (HKETO Dubai) has played a growing role in facilitating two-way trade and investment across the GCC, while supporting collaboration in sectors ranging from finance and logistics to technology and sustainability.
Here, Simon Chan, director-general of HKETO Dubai, discusses how Hong Kong is engaging governments, investors, and businesses across the region amid shifting global dynamics.
From fintech, green finance, and innovation to Belt and Road cooperation and capital market connectivity, Chan outlines where Hong Kong–GCC partnerships are gaining traction, why Dubai was chosen as the regional base, and how Gulf investors are increasingly viewing Hong Kong as a resilient gateway to Asia and the Chinese mainland.
How does the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Dubai strengthen trade and investment ties with the GCC?
HKETO Dubai is the official representative of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in the six member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), including Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Its roles and functions include:
- Facilitating trade and investment between Hong Kong and GCC countries: HKETO Dubai works to foster economic and trade relations between Hong Kong and the GCC countries in the Middle East, attract local businesses to invest in Hong Kong, and assist Hong Kong businesses in expanding into the Middle East market.
- Promoting Hong Kong: Through various activities and channels, HKETO Dubai promotes Hong Kong’s strengths to the Middle East, including its free economic system, rule of law, and status as an international financial, trade, and transportation hub.
- Enhancing bilateral co-operation: Apart from business and trade, HKETO Dubai strives to foster exchanges and co-operation between Hong Kong and the Middle East in various areas such as culture, education, and science and technology.
Which sectors hold the most potential for Hong Kong-Middle East collaboration in the coming years?
Since HKETO Dubai was established in October 2021, we have witnessed strong and growing interest from both sides in exploring new areas of collaboration. A wide range of Hong Kong businesses across a strikingly diverse set of industries – from traditional sectors of Hong Kong’s strengths, such as logistics, hospitality, tailoring and building management, to new industries like fintech, private equity, e-commerce and IT security– have taken steps to establish a presence or partnerships in the region.
Many prominent corporations, as well as small and medium enterprises from Hong Kong, have now made their mark in the region through local offices or partnerships.
At the same time, Middle Eastern firms are increasingly enquiring about Hong Kong for opportunities in areas such as F&B, logistics, IT, fintech, consumer electronics, other high-value sectors, and even niche sectors like camel milk and dates. Examples include:
- A chamber of commerce opened an international office in Hong Kong in 2023
- A major UAE real estate developer established its regional headquarters in Hong Kong in August 2025 to drive growth in its Asian business
- A major UAE bank has a licensed branch in Hong Kong
- A major UAE port operator has established operations in Hong Kong
- A Saudi Arabian shipping company will also establish Hong Kong as its Asia-Pacific hub
In addition, we’ve also seen more of our startups and SMEs actively participating in regional events like GITEX to connect with partners and customers, while several GCC companies are also participating in key exhibitions in Hong Kong.
These mutual interests highlight not only the economic complementarity between Hong Kong and the GCC, but also the dynamism of the sectors driving our future co-operation.
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HKETO Dubai offers support in three key areas:
We connect individual businesses and chambers of commerce interested in developing and expanding their businesses in the Middle East/ Hong Kong with relevant local government departments and chambers of commerce, provide information, and facilitate the establishment of local offices.
We are looking to establish a collaborative platform to closely communicate with various stakeholders, including local government departments, various organisations, and chambers of commerce, providing opportunities and information.
We continue to promote the signing of co-operation agreements between Hong Kong and GCC countries, such as the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement and the Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement, to ensure certainty and transparency for corporate investment.
How is Hong Kong engaging regional partners in innovation, fintech, and green technologies?
Hong Kong is engaging regional partners across the GCC in a strategic and multi-dimensional way, particularly in innovation, fintech, and green technologies.
As a leading international financial centre, it offers a full suite of investment and financing solutions for national, corporate, and individual clients across the Gulf, not just in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but also in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman.
For instance, Hong Kong is a top global IPO destination, ranked among the world’s top IPO markets for over a decade. Through the Mainland-Hong Kong Stock Connect, GCC investors can directly access A-shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen, while Mainland investors can invest in international companies listed on the Hong Kong stock market.
Moreover, two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the Saudi Arabian market are now listed on Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), and two ETFs tracking Hong Kong stocks are listed on the Saudi Exchange. They symbolise the ever-stronger capital market connectivity between Hong Kong and the GCC region.
As the world’s largest offshore Renminbi (RMB) centre, Hong Kong offers the widest range of RMB products. This positions us as the best platform for GCC investors looking to diversify into RMB-denominated assets, which are seeing growing demand globally.
Hong Kong is also Asia’s premier bond issuance hub, with a legal framework ready for Islamic bonds (Sukuk). Hong Kong continues to lead in green and sustainable finance, with strong policy support, robust ESG standards, and increasing cross-border green bond activity.
On the technology side, Hong Kong is a gateway to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) – China’s innovation powerhouse. With unicorns and thousands of tech start-ups, the GBA offers exciting opportunities for GCC investors and entrepreneurs. Setting up tech-focused investment funds in Hong Kong to tap into the GBA ecosystem is a fast-rising strategy, and many GCC delegations have visited the GBA themselves to see for themselves.
Hong Kong and GCC countries have collaborated on an increasing number of financial and tech events: LEAP, one of the world’s most influential tech conferences in Saudi Arabia, will be held outside of the kingdom for the first time in Hong Kong in July 2026. This speaks volumes about our growing role as a hub for global tech exchange.
In addition, Hong Kong hosts an increasing number of flagship events that connect regional innovators and investors, such as Hong Kong FinTech Week, Asian Financial Forum, InnoEX, and Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit, with more and more participants from GCC. These platforms are helping to drive deeper Hong Kong-GCC collaboration in emerging technologies, sustainable finance, and digital transformation.
In fintech, Hong Kong’s ranking in fintech offering leapt further by three places to the first in the world in the current edition of the Global Financial Centres Index. Hong Kong is now promoting the steady development of the digital asset market by enhancing the legal and regulatory framework, offering a wider range of digital asset products and services. Beyond capital markets and innovation policy, we are also seeing strong on-the-ground engagement with many Hong Kong fintech firms entering the GCC market.
Meanwhile, our green technology is gaining a significant foothold in the GCC. In July, Oman Investment Authority (OIA) and Hong Kong-based Templewater launched the Energy Transition Fund worth $200m, the first dedicated fund of its kind in Oman, to accelerate investment in energy transition and advanced manufacturing in Oman in July.
The fund will focus on high-impact sectors including clean molecules, energy storage, e-fuels, smart mobility, renewables, and green data centres. Hong Kong green tech startups are exporting innovative solutions to the GCC, such as a producer of the world’s first 3D-printed reef tiles designed for coral growth, having set up in Abu Dhabi and now testing in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea.
In what ways does Hong Kong’s role in the Belt and Road Initiative benefit Middle Eastern economies?
Hong Kong is widely recognised as a strategic platform for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), leveraging its unique “One Country, Two Systems” framework to serve as a vital connector between the Chinese Mainland and partner economies.
As a “super connector” and “super value-adder,” Hong Kong facilitates and adds value to government and business projects along the Belt and Road through its world-class professional services, legal expertise, and robust financial infrastructure.
GCC countries’ national visions and the Belt and Road Initiative align in their values and aspirations for achieving high-quality development through all-round co-operation, embracing economic diversification and innovation, as well as fostering friendship and facilitating exchanges.
As countries in the GCC and the Middle East advance their vision roadmaps across economic, social, human, and environmental dimensions, Hong Kong stands out as a natural and trusted partner, well-positioned to drive mutually beneficial collaboration across the BRI.
With its diversified financial services, including a deep and liquid stock market and a vibrant bond market, Hong Kong provides an ideal platform for Belt and Road governments and companies to raise capital for infrastructure, green transition, and community projects. As Asia’s leading green finance hub and a rising international green technology centre, it offers integrated financial and technological solutions that support partner economies in embracing sustainability and achieving net-zero targets.
Hong Kong also plays a key role in advancing high-quality development across the BRI by offering top-tier risk management and professional services, facilitating green finance, and serving as a hub for international project financing and offshore RMB business. It acts as a significant interconnector for inbound and outbound investments and a “bridgehead” for the digital RMB, with a growing focus on sustainable development and the digital economy.
Hong Kong is one of the most prolific sources of foreign direct investment in the Belt and Road. In 2023, our outward direct investment in Belt and Road countries and regions was $133bn. That’s 3.6 times the amount in 2013 and four times that of its overall outward direct investment growth, a clear sign that global capital converges here and deploys globally.
Given the complexity of BRI projects, legal issues and potential disputes are inevitable. Hong Kong’s reputation for trusted, efficient, and impartial legal and dispute resolution services makes it the ideal one-stop destination for managing such challenges. The city’s adherence to stringent environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards, comprehensive intellectual property laws, and globally respected arbitration and mediation mechanisms further strengthen its value as a partner in BRI cooperation.
Since 2016, Hong Kong’s Belt and Road Summit has united governments, businesses, people and cultures in collaboration for change and rewarding opportunities. Over the past 10 years, more than 45,000 people from over 120 countries and regions have participated in the Summit. Together, they have presented over 2,800 projects along the Belt and Road, shaping a shared vision through collaboration and connectivity, which are the fundamental values of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The HKSAR government is rapidly expanding global trade networks. Our external trade with Belt and Road countries exceeded $276bn last year, up about 80 per cent since 2013, and three times the average growth rate of Hong Kong’s overall merchandise trade over the same period. Some 1,400 companies from Belt and Road countries have established a base in Hong Kong to seize these opportunities.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority also established the Belt and Road HK Flagship Impact Fund with the Silk Road Fund Company, and initial capital totalling $1bn. We envision more frequent and closer trade and investment ties between Hong Kong and B&R countries.
Why was Dubai chosen as the regional base, and how do you work with governments and businesses here?
Dubai has a strategic location, world-class infrastructure, and is a leading gateway between Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. These strengths make Dubai an ideal partner and platform for deepening its engagement with the wider GCC and the Middle East region.
HKETO Dubai officially commenced operations in October 2021, reflecting the importance we place on our relationship with the UAE and the region as a whole. As part of Hong Kong’s global ETO network, the Dubai office is dedicated to fostering closer economic, trade, and cultural ties between Hong Kong and the GCC member states.
Our role here is multifaceted. We work actively with government authorities, business chambers, and the private sector to strengthen two-way investment, promote collaboration under the BRI, and create platforms for dialogue and partnership across key sectors.
HKETO Dubai also plays a vital role in helping businesses and investors across the region tap into the many unique opportunities Hong Kong offers. These include the city’s position within the GBA and the support of China’s National 14th Five-Year Plan, which positions Hong Kong as a global centre for innovation and technology, while enhancing its traditional strengths in finance, trade, logistics, legal and dispute resolution services, intellectual property trading, and cultural exchange.
As part of our continuous efforts to expand our overseas economic and trade network, it was announced in the 2024-25 budget that the HKSAR government planned to establish an economic and trade office (ETO) in Riyadh. We believe that the establishment of the proposed ETO in Riyadh would further enhance the bilateral relations between Hong Kong and the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia.
How are UAE and Saudi investors viewing Hong Kong today amid global economic shifts?
UAE and Saudi investors increasingly view Hong Kong as a strategic, resilient, and forward-looking partner that offers unique access to the broader Asian market, including the Chinese mainland. Amid global economic shifts, we are seeing stronger momentum and deeper engagement from sovereign wealth funds and major listed companies in both countries.
Hong Kong is currently in active discussions with sovereign wealth funds in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh to help channel their investments into broader Asian markets and to facilitate outbound deals for Asian investors looking to expand into the Gulf. In the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office partnered with Hong Kong-based Arte Capital last year to support Chinese companies expanding into the Middle East, which demonstrates how Hong Kong-based firms are increasingly seen as enablers of two-way investment flows.
At the same time, Hong Kong is also working closely with major listed companies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to explore cross-listing opportunities on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). Notably, the first Saudi exchange-traded fund (ETF) was launched on the HKEX at the end of last year, with its Hong Kong equivalent set to be launched in Saudi Arabia soon.
This growing financial connectivity is being reinforced at the institutional level. In July, the HKEX recognised the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market as recognised exchanges, paving the way for UAE-listed companies to apply for secondary listings in Hong Kong.
Earlier in February, the HKEX also signed an MoU with Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul exchange to explore cross-listings, deepening ties between our financial markets.
On the ground, we are also seeing strong interest from high-level UAE and Saudi delegations visiting Hong Kong to encourage local companies to expand into the Middle East, explore listing opportunities, and pursue strategic partnerships. For example, an official UAE delegation, led by Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy visited Hong Kong in 2023 to participate in the 8th Belt and Road Summit; Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) led a high-level delegation of 140 senior officials and executives from the government and private sectors, including Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), Abu Dhabi Customs, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI), ADNOC, Mubadala, KEZAD, Hub71, and major companies from different economic sectors, to Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong to further strengthen partnerships.
Meanwhile, organisations such as Saudi Arabia’s Aseer Development Authority are actively promoting upcoming investment opportunities and encouraging Hong Kong businesses to engage in meaningful dialogue, underscoring the shared commitment to building long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships.
Overall, there is a clear recognition that Hong Kong serves as a stable, well-regulated, and opportunity-rich gateway – not only into the Chinese Mainland and Asia, but also as a platform for capital, innovation, and business to flow in both directions between the Gulf and the broader region.
What message would you like to send to Gulf businesses considering Hong Kong as their Asia gateway?
Hong Kong is open, ready, and perfectly positioned to be your gateway to Asia.
It is one of the world’s most competitive economies, closely connected with major global trade centres. It is a dynamic, free, open, convenient and safe place to do business. We offer an exceptionally business-friendly environment, with one of the world’s lowest and simplest tax regimes, a highly liquid capital market, a freely convertible currency, free flow of capital, goods and information, a robust financial system and a common law legal system, and deep talent pools.
It is your direct gateway into the Chinese Mainland, particularly the dynamic GBA. Under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, Hong Kong is the only city in the world to possess both Chinese and global advantages. As an international financial, shipping, and trade centre, Hong Kong is the only common law jurisdiction in the world with both Chinese and English as official languages, and the only common law jurisdiction in China.
Leveraging its unique advantage of “backed by the motherland and connected to the world,” Hong Kong serves as a unique two-way business platform for mainland companies to invest overseas and for overseas companies to enter the mainland, acting as a “super connector” and “super value-added provider” between the Chinese Mainland and other economies.
It also serves as a springboard into Southeast Asia and broader Asia-Pacific markets. Located in the heart of Asia, it serves as a global transportation hub, with flights to major Asian cities of less than four hours, and half the world’s population within a five-hour flight. Its laws on international investment, financing, and trade are aligned with those of major economies worldwide.
There is a world of opportunities in Hong Kong for Gulf businesses and investors – from traditional and new energies to smart cities, infrastructure, logistics, financial technology, and biotechnology. Our thriving ecosystem supports both established enterprises and innovative startups, making Hong Kong an ideal base for expansion into Asia.
We are also witnessing a powerful convergence of economic goals. Gulf governments are actively diversifying their economies, moving beyond oil through investments in manufacturing, innovation, tourism, foreign direct investment, and high-tech industries. These national strategies are well aligned with Hong Kong’s strengths, offering abundant opportunities for our businesses, professionals, and entrepreneurs across sectors, including architecture, engineering, green tech, finance, insurance, logistics, new energy, and professional services.
At the same time, GCC governments are heavily investing in infrastructure to support this transformation, and there is strong potential for Hong Kong and mainland enterprises to play a meaningful role. We have world-class experience in infrastructure development, urban planning, and large-scale project financing. With the rise of public-private partnerships (PPPs) across the region, Hong Kong can offer expertise, capital, and execution capabilities that contribute to long-term, sustainable growth.
Therefore, if you are looking to tap into Asia’s growth, diversify your portfolio, or find a trusted partner to deliver on large-scale ambitions, Hong Kong is your ideal starting point.
