Michael Campbell stood in front of the booth at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, watching the Saudi start-up team and Hong Kong science and technology innovation companies in hot talks, full of emotions. A few years ago, when he held an exhibition, the most common question asked by exhibitors was how to get investment; What people are asking now is how to truly establish themselves in the Chinese and Saudi markets.

On July 8, 2026, the international technology and information technology exhibition LEAP East was unveiled in Hong Kong - this is the first time in the history of LEAP, known as the "digital Davos", that it has stepped out of Saudi Arabia, and its first stop is Hong Kong.

The Science and Technology Innovation Exhibition makes its debut in Hong Kong

LEAP East gathers over 340 keynote speakers and 450 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions, with an expected attendance of over 35000 people. Michael Campbell, CEO of Tahaluf, the organizer, stated that Hong Kong's mature financial system, strong technological innovation capabilities, rich exhibition experience, and sincere invitation were the key reasons for LEAP's decision to land here. He believes that startups, investors, and listed companies can all explore new opportunities in this international city. In his speech, the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Paul Chan, also pointed out that Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia are important pivot points for entering the Asia Pacific and the Middle East respectively, and the potential for cooperation between the two places is immeasurable.

Enterprises join hands to explore the market together

Mohammed Al Jamdi, Senior Chief Consultant of ELM, a digital solution provider in Saudi Arabia, said that Chinese companies have strong capabilities for large-scale implementation and have a deep foundation in digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and technology manufacturing. The stable regulatory environment and financial innovation strength in Hong Kong can help ELM and Chinese companies achieve project co construction, technology co research, and investment co linkage, bringing Chinese companies into Saudi Arabia and leveraging the Asia Pacific market with Hong Kong as a pivot.

Meituan's drones seized this opportunity and its drone delivery solution received attention from Saudi government agencies and investors at the exhibition. Chen Hongyu, the person in charge of overseas marketing and growth of the company, stated that drone delivery is in line with Saudi Arabia's 2030 vision launched in 2016. He hopes to use Meituan's localized operations in Saudi Arabia to participate in local smart logistics and low altitude economic construction, and the landing experience in Hong Kong and the Middle East will also lay the foundation for its entry into the global market.

Hong Kong Meinong Robotics Co., Ltd. met Saudi company Terrasense, which is engaged in the research and development of soil detection robots, at the exhibition. The company's founder and CEO, Li Deyong, revealed that they are preparing for the Pre-A round of entrepreneurship roadshow competition, hoping to win the favor of Saudi large sovereign capital and enter the Saudi agricultural technology market through this.

Deepening the linkage of financial infrastructure

In addition to the field of science and technology innovation, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia have laid multiple layers of cooperation in finance and infrastructure in recent years. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Saudi Arabian Exchange have signed a memorandum of understanding and are promoting ETF mutual listing. Currently, the asset management scale of ETFs tracking the Saudi Arabian stock market in Hong Kong has increased from an initial $1 billion to $1.5 billion, accounting for over 40% of the global investment market value of Saudi Arabian ETFs; ETFs tracking Hong Kong stocks are also listed on the Saudi Arabian Exchange, becoming the largest ETF product in the region.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation in financial technology and financial infrastructure. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Digital Cooperation Organization to jointly promote digital transformation. Earlier, the Hong Kong SAR Government signed a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road cooperation with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia to provide support for Hong Kong's professional services entering Saudi Arabia. Chen Maobo also revealed that he planned to lead a delegation to visit Saudi Arabia again later this year to lead representatives in the fields of finance, green technology and advanced manufacturing to discuss specific projects.

From exhibition platforms to capital markets, from drone delivery to low altitude economy, from robot research and development to digital infrastructure, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia are simultaneously promoting mutual embedding on multiple tracks. As the attendees pointed out, this is no longer just a matter of capital coming and going, but a deep handshake between two cities and two regions in terms of market and capacity.Editor/Yang Meiling