HONG KONG – Hong Kong holds great potential to deepen its partnership with Saudi Arabia as the city accelerates its push to become an international innovation and technology center, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Thursday.

Lee met with Abdullah Alswaha, the minister of communications and information technology of Saudi Arabia, on Thursday, who was visiting Hong Kong to attend LEAP East, an international tech exhibition.

The event has made its debut outside the Middle East this year, with Hong Kong hosting more than 340 speakers and 450 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions.

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Hosting the event showcased the synergy arising from the collaboration between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia and reflected the Saudi Arabian government's recognition of Hong Kong's role as a "super connector" and "super value adder", Lee said.

He said that Saudi Arabia has emerged as the premier driving force for innovation and technology development in the Middle East in recent years, and welcomed Saudi Arabian enterprises and innovation and technology talents to leverage Hong Kong's connection with Asia to build a deeper hub-to-hub cooperation model.