Dubai-based global marine terminal operator DP World and Hong Kong leaders recently discussed collaboration in a range of sectors from ports, logistics and customs to education and innovation at a meeting held in Hong Kong this week.

DP World Group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem met with Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam at Government House in the presence of the Consul General of the UAE to Hong Kong, Nabila Abdelaziz Nasir Saeed Alshamsi, Hong Kong secretary for transport and housing, Frank Chan Fan, Hong chief executive-elect office director, Kong Eric Chan Kwok-ki, and senior company officials, said a statement.

The development of financial services and cruise terminal facilities, customs collaboration and OBOR (One Belt, One Road) were also discussed, it said.

The move to develop close ties between the UAE and Hong Kong follows the recent opening of a Dubai Export Office there and the planned Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Dubai to attract capital investment.

Firm partnerships also exist through the DP World’s Jebel Ali Freezone in Dubai, which is home to 32 Hong Kong companies and saw trade worth $339.7 million with Hong Kong in 2016.

Bin Sulayem said: “Hong Kong and Dubai are at the crossroads of world trade and we share common history as capitals of commerce, where well-developed logistics infrastructure has enabled growth of our economies.”

“We are proud to be playing a significant role in trade between the two cities through our flagship operations in Jebel Ali Port where we’ve pioneered the port centric logistics approach and our operations in the Port of Hong Kong. We’re also interested in exploring Hong Kong’s cruise terminal business,” he added.

“Asia will continue to play a major role in our global network across 40 countries and we look forward to working with Dubai Exports to grow trade there for the long term. We are partners in this journey, we are on the same ‘Belt and Road’,” he said.

DP World and its partners are investing $1.9 billion in China port terminals until 2020 and already have operations alongside Hong Kong, in Qingdao, Tianjin and Yantai, said a statement.

While the Asian region remained the top non-oil trade partner for Dubai in the first quarter of 2017, Dubai trade with Hong Kong totalled AED 31 billion ($8.43 billion) in 2016, it added. – TradeArabia News Service