JEDDAH, 12 September 2006 — Hong Kong has mounted a new thrust in promoting its exports to Saudi Arabia. It is especially eying the market for its electronics goods and services.
“The Kingdom is the largest and most important market in the Gulf and we find the potential is vast for our goods and services,” Dinesh Mahbubani, director of Hong Kong-based Orbitronics Manufacturing Co., told a press conference at the Jeddah Hilton on Sunday night.
Mahbubani, who is in collaboration with Jeddah-based Al-Dhia Allama Est. for Electronics Items marketing a vast range of items Kingdomwide, said he and other exporters have been targeting this market due to its buoyant economy and fair trade practices.
“Hong Kong’s products and services are of high quality and, with competitive prices, we hope to beat the competition,” he said.
The new move comes at a time when Hong Kong’s total exports in the first seven months of 2006 grew 8.9 percent over the same period in 2005. Its re-exports rose by 7.9 percent and domestic exports grew by 26.6 percent and its imports also rose by 10.9 percent, according to Hong Kong’s official figures.
A visible trade deficit of $11 billion, equivalent to 6 percent of the value of import of goods, was recorded in the first seven months of the year. For July alone, total exports grew by 10.7 percent over the same period last year. Its imports rose by 11.4 percent.
Mahbubani, who is a British businessman, said his company was specialized in manufacturing electrical and electronic household items that were being increasingly exported to Europe and America.
“After thoroughly studying this market and its needs for high quality products, we’re confident of getting a good share for our products and services,” he said.
Abdul Kader Al-Zubaidi of Al-Dhia Allama Est. and Mohammed Ameen Al-Ahdal, general manager of Mohammed A. Al-Ahdal Trading Est., said Hong Kong products, and especially of Orbitronics, had already found acceptance in the Kingdom. “We hope to see more of Hong Kong’s presence in this part of the world,” Ahdal said.
