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Exclusive | Invest Saudi may open a Greater Bay Area office to attract capital, technology and talent to support kingdom’s Saudi Vision 2030

  • Invest Saudi, a brand overseen by the Saudi Ministry of Investment (MISA), may open an office somewhere in the bay area
  • MISA is the one-stop ministry in charge of attracting investments, capital and technology to support Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation

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The 8th Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on September 13, 2023. Photo: Sam Tsang

Saudi Arabia’s investment promotion agency may open an office in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), expanding its presence in southern China to attract capital, technology and talent to support the kingdom’s Saudi Vision 2030, a key official said.

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Invest Saudi, a brand overseen by the Saudi Ministry of Investment (MISA), may open an office somewhere in the bay area – the region made up of Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong provincial cities – to augment the promotional mission currently undertaken by its Beijing office, said Saleh Al-Khabti, MISA’s deputy minister for investment transactions.

“To reach our aspirations … we have to be in all major cities in China,” Saleh said after a closed-door round table forum at the Asia Society, concurrent with the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong. “We have to be very careful in establishing our presence to make sure we remain connected to all of mainland China.”

Vision 2030, first announced in 2016, aims to diversify the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy by injecting 27 trillion riyals (US$7.2 trillion) through public spending and investments in dozens of programmes and infrastructure projects over the next decade. MISA is the one-stop ministry in charge of attracting investments, capital and technology to support that transformation.
Saleh Al-Khabti, Deputy Investment Transactions Minister at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment (MISA), after a round table meeting at the Asia Society in Hong Kong’s Admiralty on September 13, 2023. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Saleh Al-Khabti, Deputy Investment Transactions Minister at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment (MISA), after a round table meeting at the Asia Society in Hong Kong’s Admiralty on September 13, 2023. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Trade between China and Saudi Arabia soared 30 per cent last year to US$106 billion, following the mutual visits by the leaders of both countries. China is Saudi Arabia’s top trading partner, while the kingdom is the biggest supplier of the oil needed to power the world’s second-largest economy.
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“We aspire to have larger cross-border investments,” Saleh said. “Chinese companies have the know-how, and they have demonstrated that they can deliver mega projects over the past 20 years. We look forward to them participating in this big movement that is happening in Saudi Arabia.”

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