Business & Money | Sunday 26 April, 2015 7:50 am |

The tenth edition of Euromoney-Saudi Arabia conference to be held in Riyadh next month with the support of the Ministry of Finance will examine opportunities and challenges to mark a decade of unprecedented change in the Kingdom.

According to organizers of the key annual conference, being held at Al Faisaliah Hotel from May 5-6, the Kingdom has gone through a decade of momentous change with its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005 that helped immensely in rapid economic growth, announcement of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) and major infrastructure projects to reduce oil dependency, stimulate economic growth and offer employment to Saudi youth, and a host of fiscal reforms planned for this year, including the opening of the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul) to foreign investors for the first time.

"We have certainly seen huge changes in our decade-long journey of hosting Euromoney conference here and 2015 is shaping up to be yet another significant year for the foreign investors with the opening of Tadawul widely being seen as a game changer," said Richard Banks, regional director, Euromoney conferences.
He added that the increased government focus on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector in the Kingdom offers significant growth potential for private capital. Therefore, we will also examine opportunities in SME sector as the conference is being revamped to highlight opportunities across the business landscape of the Kingdom.
According to him, SMEs make up about 50 percent of all businesses in the Kingdom and have significant potential for growth, especially when the government strives to lift the sector above 50 percent of total employment and GDP contribution.
"SMEs have the potential to generate employment, enhance productivity and increase economic diversification," said Banks.
Notably, SMEs currently contribute about 25 percent of both the GDP and jobs.

Toward this end, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) is working to increase credit availability for SMEs from banks and other agencies.
Moreover, the establishment of the Saudi Credit Bureau (Simah) under the supervision of SAMA is coordinating in financing SMEs.
Among the major challenges to be discussed this year is fall in oil prices.

According to the organizers, the 10th edition of the conference is set to be its most significant session, so far, as it will provide the most comprehensive overview of the Kingdom's current positioning and future prospects by bringing together a host of international expertise and regional senior banking executives with strong national perspectives.

The Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference is claimed to be the longest-running, largest and most influential financial conference in the Kingdom bringing together Saudi policy-makers, financiers, CEOs, and international investors and banking executives.