Hong Kong start-ups find Saudi Arabia offers warm welcome, big opportunities

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Executives in a recent delegation praise Saudi Arabia’s pace of modernisation and eagerness to do business

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A view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Shutterstock

Enoch Yiu

Published: 11:00am, 10 Nov 2024Updated: 11:02am, 10 Nov 2024

Hong Kong executive Kiki Zhang admits she felt a little anxious about her first visit to Saudi Arabia when she joined a delegation led by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in October.

However, the chief financial officer of robotics company FJDynamics quickly found that any concerns about the Middle Eastern country’s reputation for restrictive laws and cultural differences were unfounded.

“I have fallen in love with the city,” she said during the 110-member delegation’s trip to the 8th Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit in Riyadh from October 29 to 31. “I want to stay longer to explore more business opportunities here. Saudi Arabian and other Middle Eastern companies are interested in our technology, and they can provide new business opportunities for us.”

Under its Saudi Vision 2030 plan, the country is aggressively modernising and diversifying its economy to reduce its reliance on oil. As part of that effort, it is eagerly deepening ties with mainland China, which has paved the way for Hong Kong businesses to develop in the kingdom.

FJDynamics, based in the Hong Kong Science Park in Tai Po, provides robotic systems that enhance productivity and safety at construction sites – a good fit for Saudi Arabia given its many ambitious infrastructure projects.

During the summit, Zhang signed a Saudi distributor, a construction technology company called Sintechs. That deal was one among dozens of partnerships and multimillion-dollar agreements secured by Hong Kong start-ups during the three-day summit, which Chan described as a “fruitful trip”.