By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-30 09:16:19 | Updated at 2024-10-30 11:36:15
2 hours ago
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is planning to open an office in Saudi Arabia next year to strengthen its presence in the region while enhancing the city’s role in bridging financial markets in mainland China and the Middle East.
The new office in the capital Riyadh will provide on-ground support to regional investors, giving them access to Hong Kong’s financial products and “opportunities arising from megatrends that define Asia’s growth story,” the bourse operator said in a statement on Wednesday.
HKEX already has offices in Beijing, London, New York, Shanghai, and Singapore.
The move marks HKEX’s “first step in elevating our presence across this vibrant and fast-growing region”, CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting said. “This underscores our strategic commitment to promoting greater capital market connections between China and the Middle East, whilst supporting the ambitions of our broad range of customers from the region and around the world.”
This also underpins efforts over the past 12 months to strengthen China’s ties with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Frayed relations and trade spats with the US have prompted Beijing and Hong Kong to turn to the Middle East for trade and investment.
