High expectations, new players expected to take part in Saudi Arabia’s FII

Saudi Arabia’s flagship conference for investors worldwide is expected to see new players and companies participate for the first time in a sign of its growing success and continued expansion.

Artificial intelligence will be one of the main topics at the Future Investment Initiative, which will be held in Riyadh for the eighth year. Several sessions are scheduled to examine ways AI is disrupting renewable energy, healthcare sectors, government processes and others.

“We don’t want to be too optimistic, but this year, under the term “Infinite Horizons,” we know that in some sectors, literally, the sky’s the limits in terms of opportunities,” FII Institute CEO Richard Attias said.

It’s not about Saudi Arabia

Although the conference, also known as “Davos in the Desert,” is held in Saudi Arabia, Attias stressed that FII was about more than the Kingdom.

“This is why we see global CEOs — for who time is money – coming back every year. Beyond the attractiveness of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, FII is not about promoting Saudi Arabia or what Saudi Arabia is doing. It’s really a global conversation, and they are coming back because of the quality of the content… and they know which direction the wind is blowing,” Attias said during an interview ahead of the conference.

Last year’s conference was overshadowed by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel just days before it was set to be held, which saw some high-level participants withdraw at the last minute.

And this year, the war has expanded, and now there is a full-fledged war between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel.

Nevertheless, participation is at an all-time high and investors from across the world are flocking to Saudi Arabia.

The FII Institute’s four primary areas of focus are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics, Education, Healthcare and Sustainability.

This year, two new pre-summit sessions will be held: the FII HERizon Summit and the FII New Africa Summit.

Both will be held on Oct. 28.

The HERizon Summit aims to “catalyze universal economic advancement by increasing women’s professional and societal leadership in both the Global North and Global South.”

It will bring together global leaders, CEOs and innovators to discuss and share ways to develop actionable strategies for gender parity and equitable opportunities.

The New Africa Summit will connect investors and business leaders from around the world to highlight opportunities in Africa and encourage cross-border investment.

New big players

The tech sector is slated to play a big part in this year’s FII, in addition to traditional investment bankers, other financial companies, and individuals.

“We see some new big players coming to FII for the first time, and these people are the tech guys. So, you see people from Google, Microsoft, and IBM who were not really present before because they thought that FII would be just a world of bankers and private equities. Now we see the tech companies coming, which is great for us,” Attias said.

CEOs and senior officials from several top global and regional firms and banks will participate in and speak at the conference. These include the CEOs of Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, Aramco, Barclays PLC, Blackrock, Carlyle, CITI, Diriyah, Dubai International Financial Center Authority, Goldman Sachs, Hilton, Honeywell, HSBC, IBM, Moderna, Morgan Stanley, and many more.

High-ranking government officials from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and other parts of the world are also scheduled to participate in the two-day conference from Oct. 29-31.

Attias touted FII as the “most inclusive platform” that brings people worldwide together in one location.

He said about 30 percent of the participants were from the United States, 25 percent from Europe, 20 percent from Asia, and the rest from the rest of the world. “So, it’s really a global platform.”

New initiatives this year

As members requested, this year’s edition of the FII will introduce something new: mixing young entrepreneurs and startups with traditional investment.

“I call the [latter] the old guard,” Attias said. “So, you will see FII becoming a gigantic marketplace between investors and innovators.”

In practical terms, the summit will include a type of innovator hub that will provide an opportunity to highlight new tech companies and services, including FinTech and others.

Norman Roule, a non-resident senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the high level of participation at FII was reflective of strong private sector confidence in the economic, commercial, and social reforms as well as the ambitions of Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries. “The transformative potential of the Kingdom’s programs should also be seen in terms of development for Africa and infrastructure connectivity between Europe and Asia,” Roule, who worked for the CIA for 34 years, said in a post on X.