Euromoney has announced that the 9th Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference — a major event focusing on key trends and opportunities for and within the Kingdom — will take place from May 6-7.

The conference will be co-hosted with the Ministry of Finance. Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf will open the event with a keynote speech.

Also addressing the audience will be Minister of Planning & Economy Muhammad Al-Jasser, Minister of Housing Shwaish Al-Dowaihy, Minister of Labor Adel Fakeih and Majid Al-Moneef, secretary general of Saudi Supreme Economic Council, reflecting the government interest in the event.

Saudi Arabia is the world’s 19th largest economy and has the Arab world’s biggest stock market. It has announced a budget of $228 billion for 2014, building on the $1.36 trillion spent from 2006-2013.

While government spending remains the main engine of the Saudi economy, there is an increasing recognition of the need to diversify the economy and increase competitiveness. Experts have argued that the dynamics of regional power are changing and there is an important need for the Kingdom to move its dependence away from an oil-based economy.

To examine these key trends, the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference will feature an international lineup of speakers, headed by Charles Dallara, executive vice chairman of the board and chairman of the Americas of Partners Group (USA) Inc.

As managing director of the Institute for International Finance, Dallara played a central role in coordinating the response to the global financial and economic crisis from 2008 onward. He has been recognized as playing a key role in bringing together public and private creditors in the complicated, controversial rescheduling of Greek sovereign debt, and will share some of these experiences with attendees.

Joining him will be Ambroise Fayolle, CEO, Agence France Tresor, the French government debt agency, who will take part in a one-to-one interview live on stage.

Euromoney executives will also speak onstage with representatives of some of the Kingdom’s key enterprises, including senior officials from the Public Pension Agency, Tadawul (Saudi Stock Exchange), Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and Jadwa.

Euromoney Conferences’ Regional Director Richard Banks said: “As the Kingdom puts regulations in place to restructure its economy and enable foreign direct investment on a limited scale, world attention is being paid to Saudi Arabia, and this is being reflected in the intense interest we are seeing in this year’s event. We have a very senior and experienced range of speakers and panelists lined up for this year’s Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference, to better understand the key trends and opportunities.”

The Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference is claimed to be the longest-running, largest and most influential financial conference in the Kingdom. It will take place at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh.