FII speakers optimistic about global growth in post COVID-19 era

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday opened a two-day Davos-style investment forum, the Future Investment Initiative, in Riyadh. (AFP)

• ‘Every crisis intensifies innovation and forces productivity to increase’

RIYADH: The global economic recovery post COVID-19 would be powered by technology and government support for the private sector, speakers at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum in Riyadh have optimistically shared.
“Every crisis intensifies innovation and forces productivity to increase,” Khalid Al-Rumaihi, the CEO of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, said.
Global GDP is predicted to have contracted by 4.3 percent in 2020 due to uncertainties brought about by the coronavirus pandemic at the start of the year, which weighed on public budgets and employment figures.
The COVID-19 pandemic stimulated an acceleration of existing trends, such as digitization, renewables and food security, as consumers changed the way they bought, learned, worked and banked, the speakers added.
Nicolas Dufourcq, CEO of Bpifrance, particularly cited semiconductors, electric mobility and maritime transportation as industries that have witnessed growth and will continue to grow in the future.
Technology was seen as a great catalyst for growth, and John Studzinski, PIMCO’s managing director and vice chairman, believe that the world is now experiencing “the green industrial revolution”, with technology creating “a much higher quality of life” and the potential for future investment opportunities.
However, the rolling out of coronavirus vaccines was seen as “integral” by the panelists to bringing back the global economy, especially in global trade, as infections continue to rise and pose a threat to global expansion.