Speaking exclusively to the Post, Lobaton, the head of business development of the prince’s private office, took pains to explain the office’s approach after delaying its inauguration ceremony to the end of May.

“We are doing things quietly as we are like that in the United Arab Emirates [UAE]. We are very quiet with everything that we are doing, especially that we are entering a new territory. This is not our territory,” she said.

“We want to be careful and we want to cement real businesses, which are happening at the moment. There are negotiations, there are talks already.”

The prince’s aide was speaking at the Hong Kong International Airport on Wednesday afternoon shortly before departing for Dubai, a week after the office abruptly announced the delay of the ceremony citing “urgent matters in Dubai that required the sheikh’s attention”.

Lobaton declined to elaborate on the postponement, repeating previous statements on it and also refused to confirm the Post’s report that Alira, an Emirati vocalist who became popular two years ago among Filipinos, was the same person as her current boss, Ali Rashed Maktoum.

She said she had “no capacity” to comment on the prince’s music career, saying that the matter was under a full review by the office’s legal and media teams.

She reiterated that the ensuing public scrutiny of the prince had not changed the office’s business plans for the Hong Kong-based family office, including its scheduled opening ceremony in May.

Originally from the Philippines, the business development head said her role in the private office was “to talk about business”. She officially joined the team about a month ago but had been advising the prince for some months prior to her tenure.

Lobaton said the sheikh returned to Dubai last week while she stayed for another week to meet businesses and had not returned to the private office in Sheung Wan.

“I was busy for the private office’s mandate to meet strong business groups, and individuals in Hong Kong and [mainland] China that Sheikh Ali has met in his long trip there, to assure them of our commitment to build strong friendships and sustainable business ties,” she said.

“We are continuing our talks up to the invitation to make them come to Dubai very soon.”

Two sources had earlier told the Post that the 28-year-old member of Dubai’s ruling family who made waves in Hong Kong was also known as Alira, a singer-songwriter with a fan base in the Philippines.

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On Wednesday, a Post visit to Maktoum’s office site in the Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan found his portrait, which had been displayed on a reception wall last Thursday, had been replaced with a painting. The signboard with the office’s emblem remained visible.

Joey Lim, the chief administrative officer of the family office, referred all questions about the office and the missing portrait to their public relations staff. No response has been issued.

Hong Kong-Middle East Business Chamber founding president Aaron Shum Wan-lung said he was well aware that the prince sang well “even not as a professional singer” when the Emirati visited Hong Kong last December.

“We sang karaoke together during dinner at my place. [He sang] ‘Jasmine’ in Mandarin … I don’t think he was hiding,” he told the Post, expressing frustration with what he said were “baseless” criticisms of the prince’s identity and financial credentials.

Maktoum’s ambitious investment pledge despite scarce information about his business records had prompted questions in some business circles about the prince’s sources of funding and the strength of his links with the ruling family.

Asked whether the private office had got in touch with him this week after last Thursday’s postponement of the inauguration ceremony, Shum said this was “no longer his business” as he did not invite the prince to the city.

Last December, the business group signed a memorandum of understanding with the private office, which said the two organisations would jointly initiate projects that “leverage green technologies and green finance to address pressing environmental challenges”.

The signing was witnessed by two lawmakers including Kennedy Wong Ying-ho. He told the Post on Wednesday that Maktoum had highlighted his interest in Hong Kong’s arts and culture during their brief 30-minute acquaintance.

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He said he did not believe the prince’s showbiz history would affect potential partners’ confidence in the private office, reiterating that his two visits to Hong Kong amply demonstrated his willingness to foster closer collaboration between the two places.

“He’s quite young and might lack the sense of propriety in some matters,” he said. “After all, he is still influential even as a distant member of the ruling family … We can wait a bit to see how much he will invest here.”