While Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates are, in some ways, rival wealth hubs, they are also collaborators – a pattern seen with other financial centres. The latest agreements are between The Emirates Family Office Association and Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy.

The Emirates Family Office Association (EFOA), which supports UAE and global family offices, has signed a co-operation pact with the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy (HKAWL). 

The memorandum of understanding highlights the growing trend of Asian and Gulf jurisdictions increasingly co-operating as family office and wealth centres, as well as being rivals to some extent. 

Both organisations will focus on collaborative networking, knowledge exchange and capacity building between Greater China and the UAE, they are quoted by various media reports as saying. 

“The family office industry is expanding rapidly. It is vital the sector – regionally and globally – is engaged with new learning and relationship building opportunities to ensure best practices and ways of working for all,” Adam Ladjadj, founder and chairman of EFOA, said.

Angel Chia, executive director of HKAWL, said: “As HKAWL cultivates a growing network of family peers, we rely on more like-missioned partners to extend the cohort network.”

Agreements between the UAE and Hong Kong continue. For example, in May last year, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts entered a co-operation agreement with The Law Society of Hong Kong. Separately, at the end of May 2024, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong met to mark the collaboration between the regulatory bodies.

In other moves, the HKAWL is working alongside Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, and Bloomberg, to deliver a series of projects and resources to Hong Kong’s family office sector.