Business & Money | Monday 4 May, 2015 1:49 am |

Some of the Kingdom’s most important companies, along with the world’s leading financial institutions, are supporting the upcoming Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference, set to take place in Riyadh next week.

The event, which is co-hosted with the Ministry of Finance, is celebrating its tenth year in the Kingdom in 2015 and organisers have developed one of the strongest agendas in the event’s history, featuring business leaders and senior government representatives from across Saudi Arabia and around the world.

Economic confidence remains high within the Kingdom, with recovering oil prices, higher retail spending, and optimism about the imminent opening of the Stock Exchange to foreign investment all contributing to improved sentiment. With strong support from across the finance and business community, the event is set to attract more than 1,400 leading executives eager to learn more about the opportunities within Saudi Arabia.

“The last 12 months have been a very eventful year for the entire region and although there was a lot of negative news, Saudi Arabia has been relatively immune. The government has continued on its path of economic reform and growth strategy as seen in the expansionary budgets of the last couple of years,” said Hani Baothman, CEO of Sidra Capital.

“In fact Islamic banking in Saudi Arabia has been growing and today represents more than 50% of all banking assets. Investors are hungry for shari’ah compliant investment opportunities as witnessed by the over-subscription of IPOs such as the NCB in 2014. Another example is our own Sidra Ancile Structured Trade fund which grew its assets and is today the largest Islamic structured trade finance fund in the world. This industry trend is expected to continue in Saudi Arabia and total Islamic assets is forecasted to reach USD 683billion in 2019.”

Richard Banks, Regional Director, Euromoney Conferences, said: “Our partnerships with leaders in the financial sector have been essential in establishing the credibility and reach of Euromoney Conferences in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are very grateful this year to all the companies who have pledged their support, which has enabled us to create a very interesting and far-reaching agenda. The year’s Conference is set to be one of the most significant meetings of leaders and market-shapers in the Kingdom in 2015.”

The supporting body for this year’s conference is the Capital Market Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Chairman of the authority, H.E. Mr. Mohammed Al-Jadaan, will be one of the keynote interviewees on the first day of the event.

Lead sponsors include Aseer Corporation, one of the top conglomerates in Saudi Arabia; BNP Paribas, the world’s third largest bank by total assets; and Jadwa Investment, a leading capital management company.

Other lead sponsors include Gulf International Bank, HSBC and NCB. The exclusive telecommunications partner for the event will be Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s second telecoms company.

Co-sponsors include Adeem Capital, ADS Securities, Albilad Capital, CIMB Islamic, Derayah, Saudi Bin Laden Group, Maceen Capital, Old Mutual Investment Group, the Public Pension Agency, Saudi Hollandi Bank, Saudi Kuwaiti Finance House, SEDCO Capital and the Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul.

This year’s Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference, which is co-hosted with the Ministry of Finance, will take place on 5-6 May at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh. For more information on the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference, visit http://www.euromoneyconferences.com/saudi.