Hong Kong leader John Lee has expressed his country's desire to attract Saudi Aramco and its subsidiaries to invest and be listed in the city.
According to Arabiya.net, John Lee pledged to complete agreements with the Gulf states during his trip to the Middle East.
On Sunday, the CEO of the Hong Kong Administrative Region, Lee revealed, after his arrival in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, that he will meet with senior Aramco executives, saying that he will highlight what Hong Kong has to offer as an international financial center, in addition to a center for asset and risk management.
“With our pool of professionals and free flow of capital, Hong Kong has been a popular destination for sovereign funds and companies [for listing],” he said, according to the SCMP.
Li is launching a campaign to attract new investment to the city after nearly 3 years of pandemic isolation. Al-Zaeem will meet with senior Saudi Aramco executives and highlight what Hong Kong has to offer as an international financial center, according to the report, which quoted Al-Zaim as saying he would do his best to encourage Aramco to list in the city.
It is noteworthy that Aramco has been listed on the Saudi market, Tadawul, since 2019, and its market value is about two trillion dollars.
Lee is scheduled to travel to the Emirates after Saudi Arabia. During that time, he will meet with local political and business leaders to promote new development opportunities and promote exchanges and cooperation in Hong Kong with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on all fronts, according to a government statement issued before the trip.
His trip comes as local officials in Hong Kong seek to promote the city and attract new investment opportunities to boost its battered economy, which contracted last year for the third year since 2019.
