FII 2024: Hong Kong delegation secures billions of dollars in Saudi funds from dozen deals

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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 HKMA

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(Left to right): AIF (T) founder and CEO Alvin Kwock, Cyberport director Charleston Sin, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park’s CEO Albert Wong Hak-keung and FJDynamics’ chief financial officer Kiki Zhang during a media briefing at the end of the eighth FII conference in Riyadh on October 31, 2024. Photo: Enoch Yiu.

Enoch Yiu

Published: 7:00am, 1 Nov 2024Updated: 6:42pm, 1 Nov 2024

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.

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 Beta Lab 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.”

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) CEO Albert Wong Hak-keung (seated, right) and Beta Lab founder and managing partner Abdulrahman Alolayan (seated, left) at a signing ceremony on October 29, 2024 at the FII summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Enoch Yiu.

Chan also said it is time to reboot Islamic finance in Hong Kong, because Saudi Arabia needs to raise funds to finance its many infrastructure projects. The country can come to Hong Kong to issue Islamic bonds or green bonds because Hong Kong has a deep capital pool of international and mainland investors.

The successful trip 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.