Hong Kong praises UAE wealth funds

Abu Dhabi: Donald Tsang, the chief executive of Hong Kong, said the UAE's sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are reliable partners and have a stabilising effect in today's volatile currency market.

Tsang is heading a high-profile business delegation to Abu Dhabi to explore investment opportunities in the emirate.

Fred Lam, executive director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said, "We are not only seeking investments in Hong Kong. Our companies are also interested in investing in Abu Dhabi. That is why we have brought along developers, contractors, and professional services companies."

Big players

The delegation met with more than 200 Abu Dhabi based companies including international caliber investors such as Mubadala, and leading developers such as Aldar Properties, visiting the sites of many projects under construction in the emirate.

Khalfan Al Ka'abi, chairman of the construction and development committee at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, "This is a very large group of international high calibre companies, with strong footprints all over Asia, the Middle East, and the world.

"Some of these companies have presence already in the country, and what they seek is to explore what they have already observed," he added.

Rising trade

The value of trade between Hong Kong and the UAE amounted to $3.4 billion in 2007, recording an average annual growth rate of 11 per cent from 2002 to 2006.

In his speech, Tsang told the UAE business community that, "Earlier this month, Hong Kong was ranked as the world's freest economy by the US-based Heritage Foundation for the fourteenth year in a row. The same survey gave the UAE a very high ranking of 99.9 per cent for fiscal freedom, with no income tax, and no federal level corporate tax. We want to capitalise on these facts."