Members of the Hong Kong Ambassadors Club join Green Monday OmniFoods tasting business and investor lunch on Oct 5, 2023 at the Dubai International Financial Centre. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Representatives from Hong Kong and Arab diplomatic and business communities have been working around the clock to enable their agreements at work in the run-up to the biggest climate conference happening toward the end of the year.

The Hong Kong Ambassadors Club, or HKAC, recently led delegations to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, from Sept 24 to Oct 6, to embark on pilot projects in the tech, food and smart city solutions sector, all thanks to the strong Belt and Road Initiative framework.

A Hong Kong business delegation, led by the Hong Kong Ambassadors’ Club Co-founder Patrick Tsang, also Chairman of Tsangs Group (center), meets senior officials of Saudi’s Ministry of Investment (MISA), including Director of Automotive Segment Eng Waleed A Alshehri; Managing Director of Energy Sector Mazen T Barnawi on Sept 26, 2023 at the headquarters of the Office of Ministry of Investment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Themed as the BridgeME KSA-HK Smart City Business Delegation and BridgeME UAE-HK Food Tech Delegation, the trip was led by co-founders of the HKAC, Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, member of the Legislative Council and the Executive Council of the HKSAR Government, and Chairman of Tsangs Group Patrick Tsang.

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Ever since the Hong Kong delegation led by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in February, “the Hong Kong Ambassadors Club has embarked numerous business trips and exchanges in the Middle East region with successful accomplishments in MoUs and commercial cooperation,” said Lam in a statement by HKAC.

A-Grade Energy and Rice Robotics will embark on Building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV, solar panel installations and robot pilots in UAE with local corporate and government partners. In Saudi Arabia, both will embark on pilot projects and establish an experience center to advance smart city solutions

“Within the Belt and Road Initiative framework, the HKAC is instrumental in forging international partnerships. The delegations have reinforced our commitment to global collaboration and ignited innovation across key sectors among Hong Kong, Greater Bay Area and the Middle East,” he added.

The participating Hong Kong companies included in the delegation were A-Grade Energy Ltd, a renewable energy material and technologies company; Rice Robotics Ltd, a smart logistics robot services company; and Green Monday Holdings, the Asia pioneer in plant-based movement and food technology innovation.

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A-Grade Energy and Rice Robotics will embark on a Building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV, solar panel installations and robot pilots in UAE with local corporate and government partners. In Saudi Arabia, both will embark on pilot projects and establish an experience center to advance smart city solutions. 

In the UAE, Green Monday Holdings will be collaborating with local partners to expand their footprint there. 

According to the HKAC, they are finalizing an additional 10 MoUs before the end of this year with the ROSHN Group, a real estate developer in Saudi Arabia powered by the nation’s Public Investment Fund, the Mohammed bin Salman Nonprofit City, or Misk City, and the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia or MISA, to strengthen the economic and cultural ties and contribute to developing a green economy.

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During the Middle East visit, the Hong Kong delegation also held notable meetings with Chairman of Al Khozama Group Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khalid Al Saud, Saudi Deputy Minister of Culture Hamed bin Mohammed Fayez, and senior representatives of Misk City, ROSHN Group and Saudi Downtown Company, a subsidiary of the Saudi PIF; Director of Partnerships for COP28 UAE Sabrin Rahman; Director General of Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism Helal Saeed Al Marri; and Director of Investments and Stakeholder Management of UAE Ministry of Industry and  Advanced Technology Abdullah Almahri.

The HKAC also attended the Saudi World Tourism Day and Saudi Film Confex and visited the NEOM Media Village, exploring global opportunities for Saudi-China film co-production and conducting fruitful dialogues with the Saudi Film Commission and Cultural Development Fund.