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UAE-Hong Kong trade poised to boost further: HKTDC official

Xinhua, November 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The trade volume between Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) grew in the first eight months of 2016 by 7.4 percent year on year, a senior official with Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) said on Tuesday.

"The UAE is Hong Kong's largest export market in the Middle East. From January to August 2016, bilateral trade reached 7.1 billion U.S. dollars compared to 10.06 billion dollars in the full year 2015," HKTDC's Regional Director Middle East and Africa (MEA) Perry Fung said at a media briefing on the upcoming fourth HKTDC Lifestyle Expo in Dubai, to be held on Nov. 6-7.

He added that he sees a good potential for a rise in bilateral trade, especially in the fields of jewellery, telecom equipment and all sorts of products and services related to hospitality and tourism as Dubai in particular is the major hub in the UAE for travelers in the Gulf region and the wider Middle East region.

In 2015, Dubai welcomed 14.2 million tourists, representing a 7.5 percent year-on-year increase, according to the official tourism body DTCM.

Dubai aims to welcome up to 25 million visitors in 2020 when the sheikhdom hosts the six-month World Expo.

Fung further said that he sees huge potential in bilateral trade on halal (permissible in Islam) goods and services, "as both the UAE and Hong Kong play important roles in producing and distributing food and goods in line with Islamic law for the Muslim world."

Trade between Hong Kong and the UAE provides an excellent opportunity to build new business-to-business links along Chinese Belt and Road Initiative which covers 63 percent of the world's population and 35 percent of the world's merchandise trade, said Fung. Endit