RIYADH — The G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group (IFA WG) sought to address challenges around domestic capital markets at their first meeting under the Saudi G20 presidency. A day prior to the meeting, the Saudi G20 Presidency hosted a high-level conference on domestic capital markets developmen that brought together G20 delegates, policymakers, capital market regulators, subject-matter experts, and representatives from international organizations and leading financial institutions. "We aim to explore new frontiers to enhance efficiency and reduce funding gaps in emerging and developing countries while strengthening financial resilience", said Mohammed Elkuwaiz, chairman of the Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia during his opening remarks on behalf of Mohammed Aljadaan, Saudi Minister of Finance. He also highlighted that "Our vision is to see business owners thrive, aspiring governments develop, and ambitious entrepreneurs grow." Speakers at the conference included Ahmed Alkholifey, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA); Abdulrahman Al-Hamidy, chairman of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF); Toshinori Doi, director of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO); Mohammed Elkuwaiz, chairman of the Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia; Sarah Al-Suhaimi, chairwoman of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul); Nandini Sukumar, CEO of the World Federation of Exchanges, and Vikram Limaye, managing director and CEO of National Stock Exchange of India among other high-profile speakers from the public and private sectors. Participants at the conference discussed a variety of topics, including the role of resilient capital markets in supporting economic growth and mitigating the risks of excessive capital flow volatility and the risks to financial stability. The conference also outlined the opportunities and challenges of privatization, developing local currency debt market, facilitating access to capital markets and corporate governance. The IFA WG's first official meeting of 2020 was then able to consider key takeaways from the conference and issues related to development finance, capital flows and debt sustainability.
