The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) - a state investment-promotion body - will bring a delegation of Saudi businesswomen to Hong Kong on March 9.

Sagia has also selected Saudi woman Jawaher al-Sedari, now working in the agency's Chinese investment section, to head up its office in Beijing. Building diplomatic and trade ties with China is a priority for the Saudi government: China was the first country that King Abdullah visited after succeeding to the throne last year.