Hong Kong: Ronnie Chan, Chairman of Hang Lung Properties, stated on Tuesday that Hong Kong needs to look beyond the East and the West and go anywhere "if there is money to be made," including the Middle East.

If the city keeps doing what it has been doing for the past 20 to 50 years, it will "miss the boat." "For this round, globalisation is coming to an end. Deglobalization is taking place, he declared.

The decoupling won't be complete. But some decoupling will still occur. In that case, Hong Kong, which has served as an entrepot for centuries, will need to reevaluate our place in the global economy.

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But if one were to reject change and stick with what they have been doing for the past 20 to 50 years, they risk missing the boat. You might pass up the chance. In fact, as the day's events change, you might fall behind.

In response to questions about Hong Kong's ability to find business opportunities in the Middle East, Chan, a member of the Task Force on Promoting and Branding Hong Kong, which was recently established by the government, provided his insight.

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Chan was speaking at a briefing on the annual results of the Hong Kong developer. In spite of a higher net gearing ratio and net debt, Hang Lung's underlying net profit attributable to shareholders fell by 4% to HK$4.2 billion (US$535.71 million) for the year ended December 31, according to its exchange filing on Tuesday. Similar to the previous year, the board recommended a final dividend of 60 HK cents per share.

The billionaire claimed that there was "no reason not to go" to the Middle East if there was money to be made there. "The world is changing very quickly. Its evolution requires that  we follow suit.
Chan's comments come at a time when Hong Kong is actively seeking out business opportunities in the Middle East as part of a "aggressive" campaign to market itself to the rest of the world. In October of last year, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po travelled to the area to discuss cross-border economic and trade cooperation.

"Globalization has benefited Hong Kong greatly. "I believe Hong Kong's role will have to be modified if there is even a slight reversal of that," said Chan, who is also the chair emeritus of the non-governmental organisation Asia Society. It won't go away, but in order to succeed in the global economy, we must change the way we compete.

Since 2018, the city has been targeted by the US-China trade war. Chan added that this was "not factual" and that the West would "lump Hong Kong with mainland China" in the future.

So, in my opinion, Hong Kong must accept the fact that we will be treated similarly to China. Which, of course, is false according to the one country, two systems principle for anyone who knows anything about China.

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Chan stated that he would not completely rule out Saudi Aramco's potential secondary listing in Hong Kong. He claimed that Hong Kong had strong ties to the Middle East. "Hong Kong meets the requirements. Furthermore, China's sizeable economy is of great interest to [regional governments].

According to Paul Chan, who spoke to the Post in mid-January, the city has in fact been looking into the possibility of listings by Middle Eastern businesses. Many things have changed recently in terms of Hong Kong's future, according to Chan of Hang Lung. Whether Hong Kong likes it or not, it must get ready for it.