DAVOS: As the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting came to a close, the announcement of a new, regular meeting in Saudi Arabia from spring 2026 ushered in applause from a full congress hall.

Building on the success of the WEF Special Meeting in April last year, “Saudi Arabia and the World Economic Forum are happy to announce that we will host a regular World Economic Forum global meeting in the Kingdom,” said the country’s Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim in Davos on Friday.

“This is a testament to the global platform for dialogue, collaboration and innovation that Saudi Arabia has become and the World Economic Forum continued to be,” he added. “This meeting continues to be an opportunity to further unite the world in capturing the immense potential that lies ahead.”

Saudi Arabia hosted its first two-day WEF special meeting in late April last year, which focused on global collaboration, growth and energy.

Responding to US President Donald Trump’s comments yesterday asking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to increase the Kingdom’s investments from $600 billion to $1 trillion, Alibrahim said this figure would also include procurement from the public and private sectors.

“What we’ll spend in the economy from the start of Vision 2030 to 2030 is 12 times that number,” Alibrahim said.

Alongside Alibrahim on the final panel of the conference were Singapore’s president, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.

“There is too much pessimism around Europe, and it could be time to be investing back in the region,” Fink said, adding there was still progress to be made in areas such as capital markets union.