Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui today spoke at a luncheon hosted by the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and met local business leaders in Doha, Qatar.

He encouraged Qatari financial institutions and enterprises to leverage Hong Kong’s unique advantages under “one country, two systems” to tap into the vast opportunities arising from the city’s market and the Greater Bay Area.

Addressing the QFC luncheon, Mr Hui said that Hong Kong has the largest offshore liquidity pool standing at about 1 trillion renminbi and also takes the top position in terms of handling RMB global payments.

As the usage of RMB for trade settlements continues to gain momentum between Mainland China and the Middle East region, the demand for RMB investment products and related solutions in this part of the globe will certainty increase.

“The mature RMB ecosystem in Hong Kong will definitely come into play to serve Qatar and other Middle East countries. This is especially relevant to Qatar as the country's largest trading partner is Mainland China,” Mr Hui added.

Furthermore, Invest Qatar pioneered the Qatar Fintech Hub which is dedicated to offer Qatar’s first-ever specialised incubator and accelerator programme, targeting entrepreneurs with innovative and cutting-edge fintech ideas.

Mr Hui noted that Hong Kong has a very vibrant fintech ecosystem with a number of well-developed fintech financial infrastructures, including the Faster Payment System and the Commercial Data Interchange, that could foster collaboration between the fintech companies in both places for business expansion and knowledge sharing.

Earlier today in Doha, Mr Hui met Qatar Minister of Finance Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari to introduce to him Hong Kong’s latest financial landscape and the wealth of opportunities for global businesses.

Additionally, Mr Hui met Qatar Financial Centre Chief Executive Officer Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Qatar Stock Exchange Acting Chief Executive Officer Abdulaziz Nasser Al-Emadi, and called on Charge d'Affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Qatar Chen Yue.

In Doha yesterday, Mr Hui met leaders of the financial regulator and major financial institutes to exchange views on the current challenges faced by the financial market.

They included Qatar Financial Markets Authority Chief Executive Officer Tamy Al-Binali, Qatar National Bank Group Chief Executive Officer Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa, Qatar Development Bank Chief Executive Officer Abdulrahman Al-Sowaidi and Qatar Central Bank Assistant Governor, Supervision, Hamad Al-Mulla.