Hong Kong and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are expanding their financial cooperation, with a focus on tokenization and payments infrastructure agreements. On July 26, the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia (SAMA) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) held a bilateral meeting To enhance the integration of financial services between the two countries.
During the meeting, the central banks discussed various initiatives, including financial infrastructure development, open market operations, market connectivity, and sustainable development. They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate joint discussions on financial innovation. Both authorities took the opportunity to share their expertise in areas like tokenization, payments infrastructure, and regulatory technology, as stated in the official joint announcement.
Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the Monetary Authority, highlighted the potential for cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong in fields such as economy, trade, sustainable development, finance, and fintech. SAMA president Ayman Alsayari expressed that the MoU would not only fac ilitate continued development between the two regions but also assist in their future growth.
While the announcement did not explicitly mention cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, it's worth noting that the HKMA recently allowed retail investors to trade cryptocurrencies. However, the Saudi Arabian government has not publicly revealed any plans to promote cryptocurrencies. In recent years, instead cautioning that Bitcoin is " not recognized by legal entities" in the country since 2019.
Hong Kong is already engaged in various cross-jurisdictional tokenization initiatives. In mid-June, Bank of China's investment banking subsidiary, BOCI, issued $28 million in tokenized securities minted on the Ethereum blockchain in Hong Kong. The project utilized Goldman Sachs' tokenization protocol GS DAP and represented Hong Kong dollar claims with cash tokens.
