The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, accompanied by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), Mr Chow Chung-kong; and the Chief Executive of HKEX, Mr Charles Li, visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia today (December 3, Riyadh time).

     Upon arrival in Riyadh in the morning, Mrs Lam and the officials started the visit by calling on HM King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia. Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and that she is the first woman to be the Chief Executive, Mrs Lam said she is pleased to visit Saudi Arabia and thanked for the King's hospitality. She said that as the current-term Government is keen to develop its external affairs, she looked forward to strengthening ties in economic and trade with Saudi Arabia in the future.

     In the meeting with the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia cum Chairman of Saudi Aramco, Mr Khalid Abdulaziz Al-Falih and the Minister of Finance, Mr Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan that followed, Mrs Lam and the officials pointed out that with the dual advantages of "One Country" and "Two Systems" and its prime geographical location, Hong Kong has become a top-notch offshore Renminbi business centre which maintains the world's largest offshore Renminbi liquidity pool and offers a wide variety of Renminbi products and services. With the convergence of capital and talent from overseas and the Mainland, Hong Kong has been able to attract a lot of overseas and Mainland enterprises to list in the city to raise capital. Hong Kong has an active equity market and it ranked the world's first last year in terms of Initial Public Offerings for two consecutive years. In addition, the launch of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Bond Connect has enhanced the mutual capital market access between Mainland China and Hong Kong, strengthening remarkably Hong Kong’s appeal as an international financial centre.

     Noting that the national Belt and Road Initiative will bring enormous opportunities for economic development for Hong Kong, Mrs Lam and the officials said Hong Kong has the relevant experience, professional knowledge and connection networks to be the financing and asset management hub for the Initiative. Pleased to note the presentation of "Vision 2030" for Saudi Arabia last year to boost the country's development, she said she looks forward to enhancing co-operation with Saudi Arabia and encouraged enterprises from Saudi Arabia to make use of Hong Kong as a financing platform to seize together the opportunities down the road.

     Mrs Lam and the officials then attended a lunch hosted by the Managing Director of Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Mr Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, at which they were briefed on the future developments of the Fund under "Vision 2030" and discussed the economic and social situation in both places.

     In the afternoon, Mr James Lau met the Chairman of the Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia, Mr Mohammad El-Kuwaiz to exchange views on regulation and development of the markets in the two places.

     Mrs Lam will depart Riyadh in the evening and arrive in Hong Kong in the afternoon of December 4.

Ends/Monday, December 4, 2017
Issued at HKT 1:38

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