During the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) announced its partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to host the Global FDI Summit in Riyadh in October, as Saudi Arabia hosts the G20.
Aimed at identifying and facilitatinglong-term solutions to challenges affecting FDI and global economic growth, theGlobal FDI Summit 2020 will include a series of open and candid discussionsbetween leading decision-makers representing corporate entities, governmentagencies and civil society organzations. The Summit will take place alongside abroader program of G20 meetings taking place in the Kingdom under SaudiArabia's G20 Presidency.
Commenting on the launch of theSummit, His Excellency Eng. Ibrahim Al Omar, Governor of SAGIA, said: "FDI hasthe potential to transform economies by fostering competition and sharingexpertise – but the full potential is not currently being realized. SaudiArabia has seen highly encouraging growth in foreign direct investmentthroughout 2019. This therefore presents the perfect opportunity to bringtogether key decision makers from across the economy at the Global FDI Summit2020 to identify the key challenges and establish solutions to stimulate FDI ona global scale."
According to the Saudi ArabianMonetary Authority, the Kingdom saw an uptick of 10% in FDI during the firstthree quarters of 2019 – its largest increase in a decade – despitecross-border investment remaining largely flat last year globally.
Al Omar continued: "We are delightedto be partnering with UNCTAD on such an important event – I know that theirexpertise and research will be a vital part of its success. Together, we lookforward to generating tangible, usable outcomes that break down the barriershindering the growth of FDI, unlock untapped sectors, and drive economic growthfor the benefit of all nations."
James Zhan, Senior Director of investmentand enterprise division at UNCTAD, said: "Saudi Arabia has seen FDI increasefor two consecutive years. The achievement is remarkable against the backdropof global FDI decline to its lowest level of the past decade. It reflects thestrong investor confidence in the country and the success of reforms underVision 2030. UNCTAD is pleased to jointly organize with Saudi Arabia's GeneralInvestment Authority the Global FDI Summit in Riyadh in October, which providesan excellent opportunity to showcase Saudi Arabia's efforts at shaping thefuture global investment landscape during its G20 Presidency."
The announcement was made during theInvest Saudi Gala Dinner at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland, at which more than 100 leading policy makers and business andfinancial sector leaders were in attendance.
Ahead of Davos, SAGIA announced inits latest Investment Highlights report that 2019 marked a record year forforeign investment in Saudi Arabia, with more than 1,100 new international companiesestablishing operations in the Kingdom in 2019 – 54% more than in 2018 andthree times more than in 2017. It was also revealed that in the first ninemonths of 2019, FDI in Saudi Arabia grew 10% compared to the previous year.
This growth reflected the strongmomentum generated by a broad series of economic reforms which saw the Kingdomranked the world's top improver and reformer by the World Bank, climbing 30places in the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report – more than any othercountry.
