Assaf said that the Vision 2030 will be instrumental in further consolidating the Kingdom's financial stability and sustainability by strengthening the role of the private sector. Inaugurating the 11th edition of the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference at Al-Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh on Tuesday, Al-Assaf said that the Vision will focus on spending efficiency, financial balance, diversification of revenues, and reform of the subsidy system, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The minister said that the conference will discuss various aspects of the Vision. He said the Kingdom managed to withstand the global economic meltdown and its fallouts with strong economic basics and thus achieved higher growth rate reaching over four percent while comparing with many of the other G20 states over the past years. "The Kingdom pursued a financial policy that focused on achieving a balancing between the development requirements through pumping huge investments in infrastructure sector, and structural reforms that pushed the wheel of growth with a leadership role for the private sector," he said. Minister of Economy and Planning Adel Al-Fakeih, Minister of Commerce and Industry Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, and Minister of Labor Mofrej Al-Haqbani were among the speakers on the first day of the two day conference. Al-Rabiah said that the ministry has established 604 factories in the recent past in various regions of the Kingdom and this number would increase to 2,000 within the coming two years. This is the largest financial and investment conference in the region. Over the years this flagship event has brought together key policy makers, CEOs, financiers and investors from within the Kingdom and various parts of the world. The conference is debating numerous challenges faced by the global financial sector and it is also discussing how the Kingdom can face them with its customary resilience. The conference started with debating the Kingdom's macro-economic outlook, looking at oil strategy and global markets, fiscal policy and the economic reform program. The future of the Kingdom's debt and equity markets and the lessons learned from the opening of the stock market to qualified foreign investors is another major topic of discussion. It is also discussing other important sectors in the Kingdom such as real estate; corporate and private equity, SMEs, healthcare and education.
