Business & Money | Monday 16 February, 2015 12:03 am |

The tenth anniversary edition of the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference is set to be its most significant yet, with a host of international and regional senior banking executives taking part during a period of intense interest in the Kingdom’s economic development.

2015 is shaping up to be a historic year for Saudi Arabia, with the ascension of King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud to the throne in January and a host of fiscal reforms planned, including the opening of the Tadawul stock exchange to foreign investors for the first time.

Equally, a number of new pressures have emerged, including a fall in oil revenues – estimated to be as much as a third year-on-year according to bank forecasts – and on-going challenges as Saudi Arabia strives to become a more diversified, private-sector oriented economy.

This year’s Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference, which is co-hosted with the Ministry of Finance and which takes place on 5-6 May at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh, will provide the most comprehensive overview of Saudi Arabia’s current positioning and future prospects, bringing together international expertise with strong national perspectives.

Euromoney Conferences’ Regional Director, Richard Banks, said: “This will be our tenth conference hosted in the Kingdom, which provides us with an important opportunity to look back on the incredible progress that has been made over the last decade. Given the new challenges and opportunities that are emerging in 2015, it will also offer real insight into some of the key trends that will shape the future, and we are very pleased to present a packed agenda for 2015.”

Among the speakers already confirmed are H.E. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Minister of Finance, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; H.E. Dr Muhammad Al-Jasser, Minister of Economy and Planning, H.E. Dr. Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Secretary General, Gulf Cooperation Council; Jean Lemierre, Chairman, BNP Paribas and Mohamed Al-Jaadan, Chairman, Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA).

Highlights of the 2015 event include a dedicated panel for bankers, which will focus on whether oil price volatility will damage Saudi’s banking sector and ask whether the Kingdom’s banks can be truly regionally competitive. There will also be a parallel track for Chief Financial Officers, which will look at the challenges of internationalising Saudi corporates and the rising role of investor relations and governance.

The influence of the financial sector on job creation will be another hot topic. More jobs have been created in Saudi Arabia in the past four years than in the past forty, according to the Ministry of Labour, but the Kingdom still needs to expand the jobs market – particularly in the private sector – in order to support its growing population.

With major international speakers and strong institutional support from within the Kingdom, the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference continues to be the “must attend” event for people hoping to come to grips with one of the world’s most exciting markets.