Bourse operator HKEX to open Saudi office in 2025 to strengthen Middle East connections
Move represents another effort to forge Middle East ties amid frayed China-US relations
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is planning to open an office in Saudi Arabia next year to strengthen its presence in the region while enhancing the city’s role in bridging financial markets in mainland China and the Middle East.
The new office in the capital Riyadh will provide on-ground support to regional investors, giving them access to Hong Kong’s financial products and “opportunities arising from megatrends that define Asia’s growth story”, the bourse operator said in a statement on Wednesday.
HKEX already has offices in Beijing, London, New York, Shanghai, and Singapore.
The Riyadh office will start operating in the first half of next year, HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting said, adding that it was the result of two years of discussions with local officials and marketing promotions.
“After we open this new office, our local staff in Riyadh can provide information to companies that may want to list in Hong Kong,” Chan said at a media briefing after attending the listing ceremony of the first ETF tracking Hong Kong stocks on the Saudi Stock Exchange.
Chan said the London Metal Exchange, a wholly owned subsidiary of HKEX, on Wednesday added two new delivery points for copper and zinc in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The HKEX has finished a feasibility study on warehouse operators setting up metals warehouses in Hong Kong, she added.
