Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Abdullah Al-Juhani, who oversees establishing the National Conference and Exhibition Program, has estimated the size of investments in the exhibition sector in the Kingdom at SR5 billion.

He pointed out that the number of events during the last Gregorian year amounted to more than 10,000 activities and conference and Riyadh accounted for the largest proportion of events at 47%, followed by the Makkah at 31%.

Al-Juhani said on the sidelines of a meeting that the number of trade records of institutions organizing exhibitions and conferences exceeds 2,000. He noted that launching the website of the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences in early 2016 made it easier for companies to register and use electronic services, a report in Al-Eqtisadiah said.

He pointed out that the effective companies registered in the portal exceed 800 organized companies in the Kingdom.

Al-Juhani said that the forum, which will be held during Feb. 18-20, is one of the initiatives of the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences.

Four sessions were held in the name of Saudi Forum for Exhibitions and Conferences, Riyadh 2014, Dammam 2015, Medinah 2017.

The total attendance of the last four sessions was more than 5,000 officials, with more than 100 local and international speakers presenting their research, experiences and plans, which had a positive impact on the Saudi meeting industry.

Al-Juhani added that the program's supervisory committee adopted the forum and changed its name to become the Saudi Meeting Industry Forum, and installed it in Riyadh to be held annually in February, and expanded it to include a conference and a business exhibition for suppliers of business events.

Tarek Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Essa, executive director of the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences, said that the International Conference and Forum Association added to its agenda the activities of the Saudi Meeting Industry Forum, putting the Kingdom on the global map as a destination for industry investors. He added that the continuation of this forum on an annual basis will strengthen the Kingdom's position globally and make it a specialized center in the industry, and make it also an attractive center for business activities, which will contribute to the development of the national economy.

Al-Essa pointed out that the forum is a specialized and direct target for investors, employees and beneficiaries of the Saudi meetings industry, and will discuss many important topics that foresee the future of the Saudi meetings industry and its contribution to realizing the Kingdom's 2030 Vision through dialogues and video presentations distributed during 5 main sessions and 8 training sessions.