More than 140 global leaders from finance, technology and government sectors will attend the fourth edition of Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative next week.
The event, organised by the Future Investment Initiative Institute on January 27 and 28, will bring tech pioneers, investors and policymakers together to rethink the global economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Being held under the theme of “The Neo-Renaissance” the conference will be addressed in-person by 60 speakers in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, while more than 80 will participate virtually from hubs in New York, Paris, Beijing and Mumbai, the FII Institute said in a statement on Tuesday.
The event, which was originally scheduled to take place in Riyadh in October, will be opened by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of the FII Institute and governor of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.
Mr Al Rumayyan will be joined by David Solomon, chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group; Thomas Gottstein, chief executive of Credit Suisse; Ray Dalio, co-chairman of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, and Marco Alvarez, chief executive of Italian infrastructure giant Snam. They will discuss the global investment community's response to the global economic downturn and the trends they can leverage to build a stronger, more sustainable future.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s minister of energy; Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries and Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and chief executive of energy giant Total will discuss strategies to guide investment into the energy sector.
Gerry Grimstone, the UK’s trade minister; Eric Cantor, vice chairman of investment bank Moelis & Co; Khalid Al Falih, the kingdom’s minister of investment and Rania Al-Mashat, Egypt’s minister of international cooperation, will debate polices to strengthen investment and trade partnerships amid changing geopolitical realities.
The FII Institute has identified sustainable investment, global economic growth and the future of healthcare, digitisation, education and culture as priority topics of the conference. Speakers will address issues including the rebirth of small and medium-sized enterprises and rectifying gender inequalities.
The conference will also be addressed by Anand Mahindra, chairman of India's Mahindra Group; Josh Giegel, co-founder of Hyperloop One; Anthony Scaramucci, founder of hedge fund SkyBridge Capital and David Rubenstein, co-executive chairman of private equity giant Carlyle Group.
The event, which was postponed from November due to Covid-19 and global travel restrictions, has been the kingdom’s showcase of investment opportunities for global investors during the past three years.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab World’s biggest economy, signed investment deals worth $20 billion at the 2019 summit, including a $5bn agreement between the Saudi Real Estate Company and US mall operator Triple 5 to develop the world’s largest shopping and entertainment complex in Riyadh.
