Exclusive | Hong Kong to host the head office of Saudi-China entrepreneurs guild, as city steps up its ‘value-added super-connector’ role amid warming ties
- The guild is a non-profit organisation aimed at boosting private-sector collaboration to augment government-to-government bilateral ties
- The guild has more than 100 founding members, including Saudi Telecom Company, China Mobile, CICC, BOCI, Alibaba Cloud Saudi Arabia
Hong Kong will host the head office of the Saudi Arabia-China Entrepreneurs Association, as the city steps up to connect the private sectors of both nations amid warming bilateral ties, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The association, launched in February at the LEAP 2023 Conference during Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s inaugural visit to Riyadh, responded to his personal invitation to set up in Hong Kong because the city is the optimal place for holding face-to-face meetings for Saudi and Chinese travelers, the sources said.
Hong Kong allows visa-free entry for all Saudi passport holders, a considerable convenience for visitors compared with the time, cost and effort needed to obtain business visas to enter mainland China, they said. Similarly, Chinese entrepreneurs can travel to Hong Kong for meetings more easily than going to Riyadh.
The guild is a non-profit organisation aimed at boosting private-sector collaboration to augment government-to-government bilateral ties. It is supported by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones. It will be operated by eWTP Arabia Capital, according to an announcement during its February launch.
“We are keen to support the exchanges and collaborations between Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area and Saudi Arabia, as well as any plans by Saudi businesses to localise or develop in the Asia-Pacific region,” eWTP Arabia said in response to a query by the Post about its operational role in the guild.