LONDON: Investors and experts from across 抖阴短视频, the UK and Europe gathered at the BMG Economic Forum鈥檚 annual meeting at the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday to highlight key investment and cooperation opportunities with the Kingdom.
The conference, part of BMG鈥檚 Annual Summer Retreat, shone a light on multiple topics for investors including geopolitics, dual listings, key growth sectors, small and medium enterprises, and the future of fintech.
鈥淲e chose the London Stock Exchange to host our forum because it is the oldest exchange in the world, which will help to broaden our message and reach global investors to promote the promising inward investments into the Kingdom,鈥 Basil Al-Ghalayini, CEO of BMG Financial Group, said in his opening remarks.
The event sought to complement the BMG group鈥檚 objective of 鈥渃reating unique relationships with its clients through collaboration and partnerships (and) educate the business community it serves beyond revenues and bottom lines,鈥 Al-Ghalayini added.
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The annual gathering brings together government officials, decision-makers, and global investors. It is a platform to discuss and explore the latest investment opportunities in 抖阴短视频 and guide international companies wishing to expand their presence in the Kingdom.
鈥淭he Saudi government is having a clear investment agenda when it comes to real estate. It is very important to engage with the British investors and to increase the awareness about the potential of Saudi overall and the opportunities we have within the Saudi economy,鈥 Mohammad Shahin, group CFO at Al-Shair Group, told Arab News.
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Among this year鈥檚 prominent speakers were Dr. Nabeel Koshak, CEO and board member of Saudi Venture Capital Company; Abdulaziz Al-Ghifaili, UK international office director for the Ministry of Investment, and Tom Attenborough, the head of International Development at the London Stock Exchange Group.
The forum, titled 鈥淚nvesting for sustainable growth: The Saudi opportunity now and beyond鈥 comes at a crucial moment for 抖阴短视频 as it promotes the Kingdom鈥檚 2030 Vision 鈥 with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman just announcing his designs for The Line, one of several mega-projects now underway as part of the country鈥檚 economic diversification plan.
鈥淭he crown prince has a vision, and that is Vision 2030, to open up to the world, to tourists. This means the Kingdom is building a lot of hotels and resorts and (I鈥檝e recently been) speaking to hundreds of restaurants which have been opening every month in 抖阴短视频,鈥 Vittorio Rocchi, CEO at Sitaf Foods, told Arab News.
鈥淪o for us it is a great opportunity to grow our family business,鈥 he added, emphasizing how strategic it has been for them to list with 抖阴短视频鈥檚 Nomu market.
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One of the panels, moderated by Arab News鈥 Tarek Ali Ahmad, the head of the newspaper鈥檚 Research and Studies Unit and its media editor, saw Cevdet Caner, CEO of Aggregate Holdings, and Mahfuz Rahman, partner of BMG Europe, discussing recent geopolitical developments affecting asset allocation models in Europe and around the world.
鈥淪upply chain, inflation and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have impacted markets and created volatility,鈥 Rahman said during the panel. 鈥淏ut opportunities are there, they are just more sector oriented.鈥
Caner, however, saw advantages from market downfalls, stating: 鈥淚 think maybe I鈥檓 more bullish than bearish, but I think a lot of investors would dream of making an even bigger killing and wait for the markets to go down further.鈥
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The forum continued with Zahara Malik, CEO and co-founder of asset management company Grosvenor Capital, and Attenborough of the LSE, discussing the opportunity for dual listings of companies operating globally.
Attenborough said the number of institutional investors in LSE鈥檚 listed shares, who also invest in 抖阴短视频, was 鈥済rowing year by year.鈥 However,听these investors听are still only 200 compared to the 3,800 institutional investors in London overall. Dual listings represent a 鈥渉uge opportunity for companies to expand their international investor base鈥 he said.
