RIYADH — The Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference 2012 opened under the patronage of Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, who inaugurated the event at the Al Faisaliah Hotel.

Now in its seventh consecutive year, the highly anticipated event takes place at a crucial time, when political change and economic instability in Europe fan fears of an economic blaze that could affect the Middle East and Saudi Arabia.

"Experts are carefully eyeing the oil price even though Saudi Arabia has enough cash reserves to ride out a temporary economic downturn in the eurozone," said Richard Banks, Director of Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference. "However, the government’s massive economic stimulus has put Saudi Arabia in a very delicate situation.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Saudi Arabia needs the barrel to be near to $80 to cover this budget year.

By 2016, the IMF said, oil will have to approach $100 a barrel to cover Saudi Arabia’s domestic projects which makes the Kingdom vulnerable to any oil price fluctuations in the future.

In the meantime, Saudi gross domestic product amounted to $577 billion in 2011, positioning the Kingdom’s GDP ahead of several European economies, including those of Sweden, Poland, Belgium, Norway and Austria, and ranking it number 20 on a global scale.

Banks further said "the relevance of Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference is highlighted by the speakers from the public sector such as Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, the Saudi Minister of Finance; Eng. Adel M. Fakieh, Minister of Labor; Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, Minister of Economy & Planning; and Dr. Tawfig Al Rabiah, Minister of Commerce & Industry."

Key entities from the private sector such as lead sponsors Bank Albilad/Albilad Investment Co., BNP Paribas, Gulf International Bank, HSBC, Mobily, NCB, Samba/Samba Capital and Saudi Fransi Capital/ Banque Saudi Fransi, will be participating in the conference, which is regarded as the most influential financial conference in Saudi Arabia. — SG