'UAE welcomes deeper ties with Hong Kong'
The United Arab Emirates is looking forward to deepening investment and trade links with Hong Kong, its consul-general in the SAR said on Friday. At the ‘Green Development Opportunities in UAE’ talk hosted by the Belt and Road Office here, Consul General Shaikh Saoud Al Mualla said trade between Hong Kong and the UAE has been growing stronger every year.   “The bilateral ties between the UAE and Hong Kong are built on a shared vision of trade, innovation, and technology... In fact, bilateral non-oil trade between Hong Kong and the UAE doubled over the last 10 years to reach US$12 billion last year,” he said. "The Consulate General of the UAE in Hong Kong is always ready to facilitate business partnerships from both sides and help interested investors from Hong Kong and China take their first steps towards expansion into the UAE market." Cliff Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Templewater – an investment firm that owns Hong Kong’s Citybus – said the company has secured a contract to supply the first hydrogen bus to the UAE. "Hong Kong has one of the highest requirements and standards when it comes to buses and transportation. So the fact that Templewater is able to produce a product that meets the standard and requirement of Hong Kong, gives a lot of confidence to the UAE government," Zhang said. Meanwhile, Barry Lee, president of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, said he will lead a team of six delegates to Dubai in December to explore new business opportunities.  Nicholas Ho, Commissioner for Belt and Road Office, said more such talks are in the pipeline to help people better understand the initiative.  “We need to engage with our community to share with green practitioners, youth, young start-ups and people from different industries to let them understand the real opportunities in the Belt-and Road initiative," he said.  "These opportunities – you can see them, you can smell them, you can seize them. It’s a lot closer than we all think."