WEF in Saudi Arabia Seeks to Redraw Paths of Development

The Saudi capital is hosting on Sunday the first global meeting of the World Economic Forum, under the patronage of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

“It is the strongest summit outside of Davos to date,” according to Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim, who was speaking on the eve of the meeting, which is held under the slogan “Global Cooperation, Growth and Energy for Development.”

The event brings together more than a thousand world officials from 92 countries with the aim of supporting dialogue and finding practical, collaborative and sustainable solutions to common global challenges.

Building on the inaugural Growth Summit in Switzerland last year, the meeting will promote a forward-looking approach to interconnected crises. It will also bridge the growing gap between North and South on issues such as emerging economic policies, energy transition, and geopolitical shocks.

This event comes three days after the issuance of the annual report of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 in its eighth year, which highlighted the progress achieved by Saudi Arabia at various levels.

“Eight years after the launch of Saudi Vision 2030, we have demonstrated our readiness to lead the path towards an advanced model of growth based on transformation, characterized by innovation and sustainability. Our vision is to chart the path towards a prosperous economy based on knowledge and innovation, a path that unleashes the enormous potential of our human capital,” Al-Ibrahim told a group of journalists on Saturday.

He explained that most of the growth achieved by Saudi Arabia over the past years came from new economic sectors that the country started from scratch in accordance with Vision 2030, such as sports, entertainment and tourism, in addition to industrial sectors.

“The Kingdom is reviewing all of its priorities and adjusting them to suit its needs, and all projects are progressing according to plan and without delay,” he underlined.

In a joint press conference with the President of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, earlier on Saturday, the minister said the Kingdom has proven its ability to lead a sustainable model globally, noting that it has achieved a 20 percent economic growth since 2016, while the non-oil economy now represents 50 percent of GDP in 2023.

He continued: “At the global turning point we are living in today, strengthening international cooperation has become more important than ever. In cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a partner for this meeting, the Forum has chosen a well-established and dynamic global platform for leadership of thought, solutions and business, to be the best host for this special meeting, in light of the exceptional circumstances.”

Al-Ibrahim noted that the special WEF meeting in Riyadh represents a unique opportunity to redraw development paths in all countries and adopt a new model of international cooperation that aims to overcome divisions and achieve common prosperity.

Brende, for his part, underlined the importance of the special meeting of the World Economic Forum, which is taking place at a crucial moment.

He said that in light of the geopolitical tensions and social and economic disparities that exacerbate divisions at the global level, international cooperation and meaningful dialogue have become more urgent than ever before.

He added that the Riyadh meeting provides an opportunity for leaders from various sectors and geographical regions to transform ideas into actions on the ground, and launch scalable solutions to many challenges.

Brende also said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a number of international officials will visit the Saudi capital this current week to hold talks aimed at pushing towards a peace agreement in Gaza.

He pointed to “some new momentum now in the talks around the hostages, and also for... a possible way out of the impasse we are faced with in Gaza.”

“This is more an opportunity to have structured discussions” with “the key players”, he said, adding: “There will be discussions, of course, on the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza.”

The meeting agenda focuses on three main topics, including international cooperation, comprehensive growth and energy for development.

According to a statement issued by the World Economic Forum, more than 220 public figures from more than 60 countries are participating in the meeting.

The WEF, in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning, is also organizing the Open Forum on April 28-29, concurrently with the Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development.

In a statement, the WEF said the forum aims to encourage dialogue and increase awareness on critical issues by providing a platform for ideas, thoughts, and questions to be expressed and tackled in an open environment. It welcomes students, entrepreneurs, young professionals and the general public to the discussion.

Lebanese officials hope to meet international bondholders to talk about restructuring debt in the next 12 months but are not planning any meetings at the World Bank/IMF Spring meetings next week, finance minister Yassin Jaber said on Tuesday.

Jaber spoke to Reuters just days before travelling to Washington for the Spring meetings - one of the biggest gatherings for financial policy makers and investors - where Lebanon will seek to show it has made progress on economic reforms to address the underlying causes of its financial crash.

Lebanon's economy began unravelling in 2019 after years of corruption and profligate spending by the country's ruling elite, and tipped into a sovereign default on its $31 billion of outstanding international bonds in March 2020.

Asked whether he planned to meet international bondholders in the next year, Jaber said, "definitely, definitely, this is as they say the elephant in the room."

"You can't escape it in the end. Lebanon is keen to resolve this issue, God willing," he said.

But the country needed to make progress on reforms - including reforming the banking sector and boosting government revenues through reforms to tax systems and customs collection - before it could start talks, Jaber said.

"We wanted, first of all, to do our homework, to put the whole reform process on the right track to get started. You can't have a house in total disorder and then say, 'I want to negotiate,'" he said.

The Lebanese delegation to the spring meetings will be the first outing at an IMF/World Bank meeting for Lebanon's new government, which took the reins in February and pledged to seek a new IMF programme. Jaber said it would be the first time a Lebanese finance minister attends in more than a decade.

Economy Minister Amer Bisat is scheduled to give an outlook on Lebanon's economy at a JPMorgan investor conference held on the sidelines, according to documents seen by Reuters.

The creditor group - which includes the heavyweight funds Amundi, Ashmore, BlackRock, BlueBay, Fidelity and T-Rowe Price as well as a group of smaller hedge funds - has recently appointed a financial advisor in preparation for debt talks.

Shortly after the bondholder group originally formed in 2021, it said it held a "blocking stake" of more than 25% across a number of Lebanon's bonds, making it a critical player in any debt restructuring.

The chunk of the bonds are also held by domestic commercial banks or the Lebanese central bank, which bought $3 billion of debt directly from a previous government in 2019.

Lebanon's bonds trade at deeply distressed levels of around 15-16 cents in the dollar. However, that is a sharp uptick from the single digits they traded in before Israel's military campaign badly weakened Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, long viewed as an obstacle to overcoming Lebanon's political paralysis.

In January, Lebanon's cabinet extended the statute of limitations on legal action over Eurobonds for another three years. Jaber said the move "reassured the bondholders".

WEF in Saudi Arabia Seeks to Redraw Paths of Development