UAE economy minister to hold talks with Hong Kong hi-tech AI company SenseTime as Gulf state seeks to diversify economy and boost growth
- Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri says one reason for trip to Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong is to meet city tech firms that can broaden UAE’s oil-based economy
- Al Marri says city plays ‘big role’ in fintech, green technology and logistics and wants to examine ways Hong Kong and UAE can work together
The United Arab Emirates’ economy minister is to meet Hong Kong artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime and other cutting edge firms as the Gulf state turns to advanced technologies to diversify and achieve an ambitious economic growth target.
Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, in Hong Kong to attend the Belt and Road Summit, told the Post on Wednesday that one of the focuses for his visit was to meet small tech firms at the two city start-up accelerators to broaden the UAE’s oil-based economy.
“There’s a lot of financial technology. There’s a lot of green technology … Hong Kong plays a big role as well in the logistics aspect and [shipping] routes that go globally. So there’s a lot of that. We’re going to look into it,” Al Marri said.
He was speaking as he visited the city’s Cyberport on Wednesday before he tours the Hong Kong Science Park in Tai Po on Thursday.
One of the tech firms Al Marri is expected to speak to on Thursday is facial recognition tech provider SenseTime, which has been sanctioned by the United States for its alleged role in the surveillance of Uygurs in China.
The economy minister was also scheduled to meet start-ups involved in plant-based food technology and e-commerce logistics at the Science Park.
The UAE recorded economic growth of 7.6 per cent in 2022.
