Live: Financial Sector Conference in Riyadh

Al Arabiya English will be livestreaming a session held in the Financial Sector Conference taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, titled: “Taking stock: Building a competitive capital market in Saudi Arabia and the region.”

The two-day Financial Sector Conference, a part of the Vision 2030 Financial Sector Development Program, will be held Wednesday and Thursday in Riyadh.

The “conference seeks to increase the Saudi financial sector’s contribution to GDP by building a diversified and stable financial sector and developing a sophisticated financial market, through inviting all concerned stakeholders in the Saudi financial sector to participate in a constructive dialogue,” according to their website.

It will bring together global financial sector leaders and representatives from leading institutions.

Aramco IPO, debt market

At the conference on Wednesday, Saudi Energy Minister, Khalid al-Falih, said in “10-20 years, there will be hundreds of billions of dollars in outward investment, a lot in the energy space.”

The minister also said that all preparatory steps for Aramco IPO have been taken. “Aramco IPO in 2021 could slip or come forward a little bit,” according al-Falih, who is also Saudi Aramco’s chairman.

He said “there will be more, not only bonds. Aramco will be active in the debt markets, adding that Aramco’s balance sheet will have an appropriate level of debt.

Oil production

Al-Falih said “we will make sure oil market remains balanced at global level,” stressing that the Kingdom “will not leave [its] customers scrambling, not finding oil they need.”

The minister also said that what guides his actions is “looking at fundamentals of oil markets, primary indicator is global oil indicator.”