The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, today (September 21) encouraged Qatari financial institutions and enterprises to leverage Hong Kong's unique advantages under "one country, two systems", its strategic location at the doorstep of Mainland China, as well as its world-class financial infrastructure to tap into the vast opportunities arising from the city's market and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Speaking at a luncheon hosted by the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and joined by local business leaders in Doha, Qatar, today, Mr Hui said many notable achievements for the financial services sector in Qatar over the years had paved ways to co-operation opportunities between the country and Hong Kong. The QFC is a leading onshore business and financial centre that offers a facilitating and pro-growth legal, regulatory, tax and business environment.
"The first co-operation opportunity I see between Hong Kong and Qatar is in Renminbi (RMB) internationalisation," said Mr Hui.
"Hong Kong is the leader in offshore RMB businesses and we have the largest offshore liquidity pool standing at about RMB1 trillion. We also take the top position in terms of handling RMB global payments."
As the usage of RMB for trade settlements continues to gain momentum between Mainland China and the Middle East region, the demand for RMB investment products and related solutions in this part of the globe will certainty increase.
"The mature RMB ecosystem in Hong Kong will definitely come into play to serve Qatar and other Middle East countries. This is especially relevant to Qatar as the country's largest trading partner is Mainland China," Mr Hui added.
"The second co-operation opportunity is in fintech. Invest Qatar pioneered the Qatar Fintech Hub and it is dedicated to offer Qatar's first-ever specialised incubator and accelerator programme, which targets entrepreneurs with innovative and cutting-edge fintech ideas," Mr Hui said.
Mr Hui noted that Hong Kong has a very vibrant fintech ecosystem with a number of well-developed fintech financial infrastructures including the Faster Payment System and the Commercial Data Interchange that could foster collaboration between the fintech companies in both places for business expansion and knowledge sharing.
Earlier today in Doha, Mr Hui met with the Minister of Finance of Qatar, Mr Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari. During the meeting, Mr Hui introduced the latest financial landscape of Hong Kong and the wealth of opportunities for global businesses. Apart from Qatar's Minister of Finance, Mr Hui met with the Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar Financial Centre, Mr Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, and the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar Stock Exchange, Mr Abdulaziz Nasser Al-Emadi.
Mr Hui also called on the Charge d'Affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Qatar, Mr Chen Yue, and briefed him on the continuous enhancement of Hong Kong's financial services.
In Doha yesterday (September 20), Mr Hui met with leaders of the financial regulator and major financial institutes to exchange views on the current challenges faced by the financial market. They included the Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar Financial Markets Authority, Dr Tamy Al-Binali; the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar National Bank, Mr Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa; the Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar Development Bank, Mr Abdulrahman Al-Sowaidi; and the Assistant Governor, Supervision of Qatar Central Bank, Mr Hamad Al-Mulla.
Mr Hui will visit Egypt from tomorrow (September 22) to September 26 to attend the Board of Directors' Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Cairo, and the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the AIIB in Sharm El Sheikh.
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