A unique global event in our backyard
A major part of the restructuring program that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) has gone through in the past three years was the launch of its flagship event last year, the Future Investment Initiative (FII).
The aim of the FII is to be a pioneering global investment event connecting the world’s most powerful investors, business leaders, thought leaders and public officials under one roof.
As an investment banker who attended several IMF, World Bank, Davos and other international business gatherings, I found the impact of the first edition of the FII even greater than these global gatherings. Actually, it was a pleasant surprise to see the combination of politics, business, space and robotics topics discussed in one place. To me, this was a unique event.
During the first FII, I met old friends from the banking community whom I had not seen for more than 10 years. They expressed their view that the FII was another major global platform for government officials, economic leaders, investors, innovators and robotics to meet and network.
The statistics are impressive, with more than 3,800 participants from 90 countries discussing the future developments in the world economy, including investment trends in energy, infrastructure, artificial intelligence and robotics as well as new growth areas.
Another unique feature of the first edition of the FII was the announcement of the giga-project Neom City.
With its unique position in the global solar atlas, Neom will host the largest solar-powered city in the world by generating half of the world’s capacity for solar energy. This solar city will help in exploring the opportunities to establish industries in the field of power-generation systems and batteries in the Kingdom, which will help to support the diversification of sectors and create jobs in the field of advanced technologies.
Neom and other giga projects — Al-Qidiya and Red Sea — which were also launched by the PIF, will be presented during the BMG Economic Forum on July 11 at the London Stock Exchange. The BMG event is considered a private-sector initiative aimed at expanding the outreach of the Saudi Vision 2030 among global investors and financiers.
Recently, the PIF announced the second edition of the FII in October 2018, which will again bring together renowned visionaries with the power to shape the future of global investments. We as members of the business community in Saudi Arabia are proud that such a global event is taking place in our backyard.
The road to Vision 2030 will definitely be clearer to the global investors with such a unique and value-added global event, the Future Investment Initiative.
• Basil M.K. Al-Ghalayini is the Chairman and CEO of BMG Financial Group.
