Arabian Knights - The New Silk Road

I bumped into a young Kuwaiti friend in Hong Kong two days ago. His mission? The continuation of a series of visits to China (and this time Macau) that his company - investors already of an amount in excess of USD500m in China - is making looking for new investment opportunities. He is not alone. Arabs from many countries, sophisticated and shrewd investors for the most part, are visiting Asia in ever increasing numbers - mostly to China it must be said, but with minds open to other countries.
Some arrive with fanfare, the majority do not. They are sharp, low key... and they are learning fast. I wonder whether we in Hong Kong are doing the same.
I suggest there are business opportunities in both directions, but I sense the Middle East is learning much more about us than we are learning about them. Already, we feel comfortable with the business opportunities in the North, but our Singaporean neighbours have sensed this new opportunity and are making the forward moves that we should be seriously considering.