This article discusses the nature of interim measures of protection in international arbitration and, in particular, explores the idea of cross-jurisdictional arrangements as an ‘interim stopgap measure’ for less-developed arbitral jurisdictions, taking as its model the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2019). The article is based on the Hong Kong Vis East Moot Annual Lecture delivered on 31 March 2019 at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).