The fourth edition of Saudi Arabia's annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference will be held from January 27-28 in a multi-hub format for the first time amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with host Riyadh serving as the central hub and four additional global satellite hubs in Beijing, New York, Paris and Mumbai.

Over 140 prominent international business leaders, investors and policymakers are expected to share their vision on the theme of "neo-renaissance" in a post-COVID-19 world at the two-day conference hosted by the FII Institute, a newly-established non-profit global foundation.

More than 60 speakers will attend the conference in-person at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center in Riyadh while another 80 will join virtually from around the world from the FII international hubs, according to a press release by the organizers.

The FII Institute will act as the curator of a global conversation that is needed to spark concrete actions and mobilize cross-border thought leadership, collaboration and resources. 

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"There has never been a more important time for leaders, investors and policy makers to come together to work towards re-energizing the global economy," Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of the FII Institute and Governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, said.

The FII conference was conceived as part of the Gulf kingdom's ambitious Vision 2030 with the PIF playing the role of the main organizer for the previous three editions.

The China connection

Beijing-based Chinese-American computer scientist, businessman and writer Kai-Fu Lee, who is also the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, will be among the key speakers at the conference. The event will also feature India's richest man, Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon, Credit Suisse Group CEO Thomas Gottstein, Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO James Gorman, Softbank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son, and BNP Paribas Chairman of the Board of Directors Jean Lemierre.

With Beijing also named as one of the hubs for the conference, several Chinese business leaders and investors are expected to participate at the event, an official told CGTN Digital.

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The trade and investment ties between China and Saudi Arabia have witnessed a constant upward trend in recent past. China is Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner and Riyadh is Beijing's largest trading partner in West Asia. 

According to a Xinhua report, quoting statistics provided by the Chinese embassy in Saudi Arabia, bilateral trade volume between the two countries grew more than 150-fold in about 30 years, from less than $500 million in 1990 to $78.18 billion in 2019.

Saudi imports from China rose 17.8 percent year on year in 2020 to $28.1 billion, according to latest figures from China's General Administration of Customs (GAC). The GAC figures released last Wednesday also showed that Saudi Arabia became China's biggest oil supplier in 2020, pushing Russia to the second spot.

China's largest investment project in Saudi Arabia so far is the Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company that became officially operational in January 2016. It is also China Petroleum Corporation's (Sinopec) first overseas refining and chemical project.

'Neo-Renaissance'

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The theme for this year's FII conference is "neo-renaissance" that will focus on sustainable investment, global economic growth and the future of healthcare, digitization, education and culture as priority topics. Sessions will also address the rebirth of SMEs, and how investing in culture can make it an engine of growth to support artists and museums and rectify long-standing gender inequalities.

The conference will also highlight how the sports and entertainment industries can reinvent themselves by combining virtual events and in-person experiences to grow revenue.

"The fourth edition of FII will see the most innovative technologies to facilitate global conversations and to be inclusive at the benefit of all of humanity," Richard Attias, CEO of the FII Institute, said. "The FII Institute will act as a catalyst and a pioneer to allow interaction and exchange of disruptive ideas. There has never been a more important time to bring the greatest minds together to harness this opportunity to reimagine our world," he added, explaining the background behind the event's theme.

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