Prince saga shows the city’s Middle East drive needs work
Beneath the brouhaha over a Dubai prince’s high-profile plan to open a family office in Hong Kong is the city’s steely resolve to look for new economic drivers amid growing tensions between China and the West.
Before the headlines – over launch delays for Sheikh Ali Rashed Ali Saeed Al Maktoum’s US$500 million family office and his reported alter ego as singer-songwriter Alira – threw a spotlight on the city ambitions, there were two years of careful economic planning by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s administration.
In 2022, Lee set a goal to attract 200 new family offices by 2025 through offering tax concessions. Last year, his administration focused its efforts on telling good stories of Hong Kong to investors in the Middle East. Clearly, Hong Kong is looking towards Gulf states to help maintain its status as an global finance hub.
Hong Kong’s eyes have traditionally been more focused on the West and the mainland. For decades, Hong Kong thrived by serving Western firms that wanted to invest on the mainland and Chinese firms seeking Western markets.
But this started to change with the US-China trade war and the deterioration of relations between China and the Western world. It forced Hong Kong to seek non-Western alternatives.
By repositioning Hong Kong as China’s superconnector to the world, the city has not only increased its engagement with the Middle East economically but also its educational and cultural exchanges.
But to what extent does Hong Kong understand the Middle East, its economy, culture and politics? The controversy over the Maktoum family office plans has revealed gaps to address if Hong Kong’s campaign to court the Middle East is to succeed.
In recent years, Hong Kong has organised cultural exchanges with the Middle East. Most activities hosted so far, however, appear to have been one-time exchanges. They were also not targeted at building a local talent pool familiar with the Middle East.
For example, Hong Kong’s last Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum held in 2022, which included representatives from Iran and Saudi Arabia, was a useful platform for ministers and officials to exchange ideas. But it had a limited impact in helping Hong Kong build a comprehensive knowledge of the Middle East.
What might be useful is a deeper revision of Hong Kong’s school curriculum. Since the 2020-21 school year for junior secondary students, the Education Bureau has added the topic “The rise of Islamic civilisation and cultural interactions between Europe and Asia in medieval times”. However, the extent to which local teachers are equipped to teach Islamic civilisation and culture should be examined.
The lack of Islamic culture studies in secondary and university education has left the city unprepared for an increase in demand for teachers qualified to teach such subjects.
The Education Bureau has sought to develop and deepen its teaching resources in Islamic studies by engaging experts from tertiary institutions. Yet, universities in Hong Kong still lack a stable core of Middle East experts. Chinese University has a Centre for the Study of Islamic Culture but its latest activity appears to be a lecture series back in 2021.
The University of Hong Kong is the only one in the city that offers a minor in Arabic studies. For most other universities here that offer any Middle Eastern modules, it is limited to the Arabic language.
The government is clearly eager to engage with the Middle Eastern business sector. But, so far, local education and research on Middle Eastern affairs seem to be largely confined to history and language. What’s more, the city has far fewer scholars on Middle Eastern affairs than on Western and Chinese culture.
The government’s plan to engage the Middle East is driving demand for local talent who are experts on Arabic business practices, Middle Eastern societies and the Islamic culture and economy, but this demand can hardly be said to have been well met. For Hong Kong to successfully position itself as the bridge between China and the Middle East, it must equip itself with knowledge of both sides. Though some progress has been made, more needs to be done.