Eurasia Press & News
CICC has about five to six people in its Middle East offices serving the entire region with a mix of Chinese and regional staff.
China International Capital Corporation (CICC) plans to expand its reach in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, as China’s ties with the Middle East grow politically and economically in the Gulf region.
Barry Chan, the broker’s Asia and Australia head, said the investment bank already has two offices set up and is working to obtain the licences necessary to perform financial service activities, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
“We want to show our commitment that we are in this region for the long haul, instead of flying in-and-out for several days carrying a suitcase,” Chan told the news agency. He said that the bank wants to build an ongoing relationship with countries in the Arab world. CICC has about five to six people in its Middle East offices serving the entire region with a mix of Chinese and regional staff, he said.
Chan said the Middle East is a relatively new, large and untapped market for Hong Kong financiers. A benefit to their expansion in the region, he explained, is that regional firms that are targeting Chinese markets or investors are more likely to engage with Hong Kong investors.
Bonds between China and the region have strengthened in the last few months with unprecedented political and economic developments taking place.
Iran and Saudi Arabia met in Beijing Thursday for the first formal meeting of their top diplomats, where they discussed the details of resuming diplomatic relations and expanding economic ties. China brokered the deal that was signed March 10 restoring ties between the two rivals of more than seven years.
Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet approved a decision in late March to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security union joined by Iran and Russia that is seen as a geopolitical counterweight to the United States and Western powers.
Also in late March, the UAE was part of a historical transaction carried out on China’s national energy trade platform. China conducted the first ever yuan-settled energy deal that involved some 65,000 tons of Emirati liquified natural gas.
The start of these developments in the public eye began in December, when President Xi Jinping visited Riyadh for the first time in nearly seven years. They met to discuss ambitions for an initial agreement of $29.26 billion and build their economic and development cooperation.
