RIYADH/LONDON: Prominent leaders from the business, technology and financial world turned out to address a key investment conference in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, as the kingdom seeks to attract foreign funds to help its plans to transition its economy from oil.
Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and Alphabet President and CIO Ruth Porat were among the high-profile figures who took part in a panel debate at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh.
The event is an opportunity for attendees to forge relations with some of Saudi Arabia’s biggest companies and its $925 billion sovereign wealth fund.
However, it comes at a time when the fund, the main vehicle for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to steer the Saudi economy away from oil, has been scaling back some of its flagship “giga-projects” due to rising costs.
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Speaking on the panel, the Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said the sovereign wealth fund was more focused on the domestic economy and aiming to bring the fund’s international investments down to between 18% and 20% from 30%.
The conference organised two large panels on Tuesday, which were set to also feature banking leaders such as Citi CEO Jane Fraser, Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters and Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon.
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