RIYADH: The first “Financial Sector Conference,” part of the Vision 2030 Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP), will be held on April 24-25 in Riyadh, under the patronage of King Salman.
The conference will be aimed at increasing the Saudi financial industry’s contribution to the annual gross domestic product (GDP) by stabilizing and diversifying the industry.
The agenda will be tailored to meet the interests of local, regional and international business and financial leaders, as well as public sector organizations, international rating agencies, and experts in investment, stock markets, funding and insurance.
The ultimate goal of the program itself is to secure the Kingdom’s position as the largest financial market in the Middle East, and to open doors to further investment opportunities away from oil and natural gas, in line with Vision 2030’s diversification targets. The FSDP will focus on better central planning, enabling financial institutions to support private sector growth and on developing an advanced financial market.
The Saudi finance minister and chairman of the FSDP committee, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, said: “The ‘Financial Sector Conference’ will be the premier financial event in the Kingdom and the Middle East. It will attract decision makers and senior executives. This move will enable the ‘Financial Sector Conference’ to become the most prominent financial event regionally, as well as attract important personalities from the global economy.
“The Kingdom seeks to enable key industry leaders in finance, investment, insurance and banking to meet in one place to exchange experiences and information, discuss critical challenges, highlight important regulations and legislation, and review global best practices to develop the financial sector.”
The conference will also host an exhibition to showcase financial products and innovations from different institutions, giving them the opportunity to do business with local investors.
The Saudi Stock Exchange was successfully listed with MSCI’s Emerging Market Index (EMI) in 2018, and is expected to join the FTSE Russel EMI in March 2019, having joined JPMorgan’s Emerging Markets Bond Index earlier this year.
