Abu Dhabi: Trade relations between the UAE and Hong Kong are strong and growing, visiting financial secretary of Hong Kong John C Tsang said in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
He said the bilateral trade between the countries increased by over 20 per cent in the last five years and there is plenty of potential for growth and cooperation.
“We are expecting the trend to continue in the coming years. There is an immense potential to do business and strengthen our relationship,” he said while speaking to Gulf News at a business luncheon hosted in honour of the Hong Kong business delegation.
“It is a good opportunity for two economies to work together to grow their business. Nowadays, all the advanced economies have slowed down.”
Business between both the countries has been growing. The total trade exchange increased from $4.57 billion (Dh16.8 billion) in 2012 to $6.66 billion in 2013, an increase of 45.7% excluding free zones. The trade through free zones with Hong Kong reached $3.1 billion in 2013.
Tsang said the country offers plenty of opportunities for UAE investors in Islamic finance, asset management and shares. “Since we issued the first US dollar denominated sukuk in Hong Kong, we’ve seen tremendous interest. About 36 per cent of sukuk was sold to investors from the Middle East. We are looking forward to building that up. Islamic finance is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world economy.”
According to him, people in his country know very little about Middle East and vice versa. “One of the purposes of my visit is to enhance the understanding and relationship so that we can do business together. I think this is just a beginning.”
He said the protests by students demanding greater democracy has not impacted the economy.
“That only affected some selective, isolated areas. It should not impact the economy in any way. Investors are confident about our business. Stock exchange has been breaking new records in recent days. All the protest will come to an end soon and the business will return to normal.”
The two countries will sign an agreement on double taxation and will begin discussions about investment protection treaty during the visit.
Speaking at the event, Abdullah Al Salah, undersecretary of foreign trade and industry, ministry of economy said Hong Kong and the UAE have excellent economic and cultural ties.
“Hong Kong is a very attractive market that acts as a gateway through which other several fast growing dynamic markets can be accessed and the UAE is a gateway for several emerging markets.”
He said the UAE was ranked 12th in the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 released by the World Economic Forum and 22nd worldwide in the Ease of Doing Business report 2015 issued by the World Bank.
