Hong Kong should leverage its position as a “safe haven for investment” to attract foreign capital amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the head of InvestHK has said, noting that more companies using Dubai as a hub have shifted to the city to diversify risk.
Lau said Hong Kong should seize the opportunity as a safe haven to draw foreign capital based in Dubai, even as the government there continued to offer tax incentives, preferential treatment and financial support to attract international investors.
She noted that China and other Asian countries with strong economic growth were some of the top destinations for companies seeking expansion, while sovereign funds had also shown an interest in diverting investment to the city and the East, even before the US-Israel war on Iran began last month.
“What we have seen is that not only Middle Eastern money, but companies and countries that have traditionally used Dubai as a hub, have now shifted mostly to Hong Kong – maybe a little bit to Singapore – because they want to diversify their risk,” Lau said in an interview on the sidelines of a seminar co-hosted by InvestHK in Beijing.
