The third and final day of the 6th edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII6), currently being held at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, embarked on its activities with a session titled "Transforming Banking and Investment for the Resilient Economy", which saw the participation of CEO of Saudi EXIM Bank Group Eng. Saad bin Abdulaziz Al-Khalb. Talks during the session focused on the fact that technology continues to influence banking and financial practices as the economy starts to transform in the post-pandemic world and the pandemic's impacts of global economic repercussions, where the World Bank reports that two-thirds of all adults worldwide now make or receive digital payments. Also, the rise of small investors has changed investing around the world. Al-Khalb said that the main goal in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is to guarantee Saudi exports and supporting global commerce and international long term projects, adding that main tasks of the bank include offering credit necessary for exports, facilitating exports, and developing financial institutions through the government's support to foreign trade. He also noted that the Saudi economy has not witnessed any decline, whether during the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions or interest rate hikes, thanks to the fact that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoys a system that can intervene and offer support necessary for commercial activities and cross-border transactions. He noted that in 2020 and during the pandemic, approvals were issued to support Saudi exports with SAR20 billion and we had a quick response through providing the necessary money to increase exports and cover risks, especially that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a center for logistics. Al-Khalb pointed out that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an initiative concerned with logistics to empower global trade through utilizing potential due to the fact that the geographical location of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a strategic location that connects three continents while enjoying a comprehensive and interconnected system with Africa. He also said that investment banks and financial institutions have changed into banks that support exports and commerce, and that Saudi Vision 2030, along with other strategies, is going ahead with expansion, which made the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a logistics center to support the world. The session also discussed means to employ artificial intelligence, technical development in services provided by banks and banking companies, where the session also went over banking platforms through which they offer environment friendly products, governance, where the volume of digital banks increased by 50% in the post-pandemic era, the emergence of the financial technology sector, the quality of assets, and the approach of mortgage.
