The Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), Dr. Ahmad Abdul Abdulkarim Al-Kholifey, has appreciated the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Financial Sector Conference to be held on 19th and 20th of Sha'ban 1440H, corresponding to 24 and 25 of April 2019, at King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh. The conference will be organized by the partners of the Financial Sector Development Program, represented by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and Ministry of Finance, stressing that the King's patronage of this event embodies the leadership's great keenness to enhance the economic development being witnessed by the Kingdom. Dr. Ahmad Al-Kholifey has stressed the importance of the conference in highlighting the Kingdom's international standing as the largest financial market in the Middle East and an environment for many real investment opportunities in the financial sector as envisaged by the Kingdom's Vision 2030; particularly the Financial Sector Development Program and its initiatives. The Governor has pointed out that the conference has attracted decision makers in the financial sector and senior executives in the financial institutions, thereby qualifying it to be one of the largest financial conferences at local and regional levels. "The conference will play an important role in contributing to the achievement of the ambitious objectives of 2030 Vision," said Dr. Al-Kholifey. The conference seeks to review opportunities for attracting foreign investments in the financial sector and raising the contribution of the Saudi financial sector to GDP in accordance with the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which aims at building a diversified and stable financial sector and the development of a sophisticated financial market by inviting all concerned parties who are interested in the Saudi financial sector to a constructive dialogue, with the participation of a selection of influential figures in the financial sector who assume essential roles at the global economy level, including the official financial institutions, International financial organizations, International credit rating agencies, International advisory offices, SME Support Institutions, banks, finance companies, insurance and financial technology service providers. Dr. Al-Kholifey has stressed the importance of the conference in highlighting the initiatives of the Financial sector Development Program which will have a positive impact on the financial institutions, private sector and citizens, represented in increasing transparency in the financial system, facilitating the extension of loans through the financial institutions, raising the share of finance for SME, increasing the share of mortgages in bank finance, apart from deepening the insurance market and increasing the insurance ratio for both vehicle and health insurances.
