RIYADH: As Saudi Arabia prepares for the visit of US President Donald Trump next week, much media attention has focused on the Saudi-US Investment Forum, an invitation-only event to be held at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel on May 13.
US media outlets have reported that high-profile business figures like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Fink are poised to attend, while Arab News sources reveal that about 15 Saudi ministers and top-level officials will be present, as well as the CEOs of some of the Kingdom’s biggest companies and giga-projects, in addition to hundreds of business ‘big-wigs’ from both countries.
Other guests will reportedly include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and David Sacks, the White House AI and cryptocurrency czar.
Invitations to the forum state that it will “provide an exclusive opportunity to deepen engagement, unlock new investment avenues and reaffirm our long-standing economic partnership.”
While military cooperation and security deals are important to both the US and Saudi Arabia, the expectation is that this conference will see new industries and areas of cooperation emerge in what will be a two-way investment forum.
Agreements will be inked that cover sectors such as artificial intelligence, tech and healthcare cooperation and will likely be worth at least $600 billion — a goal set by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in January, when he became the first foreign leader to have a call with Trump after the latter’s return to the White House.
Speaking at the Milken Institute in Los Angeles this week, Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih stated that the Kingdom views the US as unmatched in terms of both capital markets and innovation. “There is no close competitor to the US in many aspects, certainly capital markets, their depth and their breadth, and also the innovation spirit,” Al-Falih said.
Arab News will be both participating on panels and reporting all the breaking news from next week’s event.
Trump is expected to arrive in Riyadh on May 13, attend a summit with Gulf leaders on May 14 and then travel to Doha the same day before concluding the first official foreign trip of his second term in Abu Dhabi on May 15.
