Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam talks up Saudi Arabia as trade partner in ‘Belt and Road’ push

Fresh from meeting with the king, leader says city’s financial services sector could be of use to Saudi business

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Carrie Lam meets Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in Riyadh. Photo: Facebook

Published: 3:30pm, 5 Dec 2017Updated: 9:15pm, 5 Dec 2017

Hong Kong’s leader said Saudi Arabia could be a valuable export market for the city’s professional and financial services, as she vowed on Tuesday to continue her overseas trips promoting Hong Kong and exploring business opportunities.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor spoke a day after returning from the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh with Hong Kong’s financial services minister and the heads of the Hong Kong stock exchange.

During her visit, Lam met King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed and Saudi Arabia’s ministers of energy and finance.

Lam and other officials met Khalid Abdul Aziz al-Falih, who is both an energy minister and chairman of Saudi Aramco, a state-owned oil conglomerate which stock exchange chiefs from Hong Kong and other major global exchanges are thought to have courted for a listing.

“Saudi Arabia is an important country in the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’,” Lam said, referring to the central government’s plan to boost trade along two historic routes leading westwards from China.

“I can see that Hong Kong’s professional services, and especially our financial services, can play a role in many aspects of [Saudi Arabia’s development plans].”

Lam said she intended to continue visiting foreign countries to boost their ties with the city.