HAILING from one of the city’s most influential families, Poman Lo has an ambitious plan for the family’s hotel business – venturing into a region relatively untouched by Hong Kong developers with dozens of green hotels.

Regal Hotels International Holdings is partnering with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia to build about 100 hotels around the world worth US$5 billion, with an emphasis on the Middle East. It will have about 30 hotels in Saudi Arabia, according to an interview with Lo, vice-chairman and managing director at Regal.

The move underscores the growing ties between Hong Kong and the Middle East as the financial hub navigates US-China tensions. Lo joined Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s trip to the region early last year with a group of business executives.

“Given the deepening ties and collaborations with Saudi and China, I think Hong Kong can play that super connector role,” Lo noted. Foreign companies tend to want to work with Hong Kong companies due to the city’s legal infrastructure, she added.

With Western investors cutting capital, “a lot of Chinese funds as well as companies are going to Saudi to seek investments, so there’s a lot of business travel”, she said. This provides opportunities for Regal, which plans to build the hotels under the iclub brand targeting entrepreneurs.

Regal plans to finish the construction by 2035, without disclosing how much it will invest. Saudi Arabia’s investment ministry will help secure funds for the projects, while Regal is also open to accept capital from investors in mainland China and Hong Kong. Japan, South-east Asia and China are among other regions that Regal prioritises.

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The new hotels will seek to be carbon neutral, a strategy that Lo said makes business sense. Big companies would prefer their staff stay at green accommodations while funds increasingly only invest in such property, Lo noted.

Regal has 19 hotels with the majority in Hong Kong. Lo’s father is Lo Yuk Sui, the second son of the late real estate tycoon Lo Ying Shek.

In November, China and Saudi Arabia signed a local-currency swap agreement worth US$7 billion. Chinese President Xi Jinping also visited the country in 2022 for a summit where the two countries signed agreements in principle valued at US$50 billion.

Strengthening relations with the Middle East could help boost the city’s economy and inbound investors.

“I’m still confident” in the city’s tourism, Lo pointed out. “There’s been a drop of international travellers, hopefully we can bring them back.” BLOOMBERG