day Euromoney Conference, to be opened in Riyadh Tuesday will address current issues such as inflation and monetary policy among many other topics, said Richard Banks, Director of Euromoney Conferences Middle East at a press conference here, Sunday. The conference to be jointly opened by Dr. Ibrashim A. Al-Assaf, Minister of Finance and Khalid M. Al-Gosaibi, Minister for Economy and Planning will focus on the Kingdom's fast-growing financial sector. The conference will also review macro-economic development, financial sector reform, equity markets, debt markets, project finance, natural resource finance, financial sector competitiveness, risk and return balancing among other topics, Banks said. However, the basic aim of the conference is to explain to the international delegates about the investment opportunities available in the Kingdom, he said. The key figures from the Kingdom's financial sector, both public and private, will participate to highlight about the Kingdom's economic development and investment opportunities available, he said. Dr. Al-Assaf, Al-Gosaibi and Hamad Al-Sayari, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) will be the main speakers on the occasion. Banks said, to set the scene for the debates and discussions on the occasion, leading economists and commentators will discuss the economic situation and prospects for the Saudi Arabian economy. Some leading economists and commentators will debate and discuss in a number of panel sessions on topics such as “Saudi Arabia macro-economic overview – sustainable growth, manageable boom or speculative bubble?” and “The financial sector – If oil is the fuel, is the financial sector the engine?” The panel will also focus on “Natural resources investment – still an opportunity for international finance?” A panel discussion on “Evaluating investment competitiveness” would focus on topics that include – How likely is the 10-10 for competitiveness target to be achieved,” “What happens if it isn't?” “Where is the KSA competitive? Where isn't it? “Can the government really increase private sector productivity,?” and “Is Saudi risk correctly priced or even properly understood?” The delegates will also focus on topics such as GDP growth among other issues. A number of workshops have also been planned on topics such as “Islamic banking challenges,” and “The inflationary challenge and its impacts on the financial sector of the Kingdom”. __
