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RIYADH: The ninth Future Investment Initiative marks a “turning point” in global innovation focus with technology leaders set to make up over half of speakers at the event in the Saudi capital.

In an interview with CNBC, Richard Attias, chairman of the FII Institute’s executive committee, said this year’s conference represents a major shift as a range of sectors seek to get to grips with the impact of artificial intelligence.

Launched in 2017, the Future Investment Initiative — often referred to as “Davos in the Desert” — has become a key platform for ����ֱ�� to showcase its economic diversification strategy under Vision 2030.

This year’s event, running from Oct. 27 to 30, brings together global policymakers, investors, and corporate leaders to discuss trends shaping the world economy and explore partnerships across emerging industries. 

“FII9 is a turning point,” Attias told CNBC, adding: “This year, 52 percent of our speakers are coming from the tech industry. It is showing you the importance, of course, of AI, but not only AI, innovation in general, because all sectors in all industries are impacted by technology now.” 

Attias highlighted three defining factors for this year’s edition: the dominance of technology, the presence of more than 20 world leaders and 50 ministers representing 90 countries, and the event’s growing reputation as one of the most inclusive platforms for international collaboration.  

“This will be a fantastic platform for public private partnership,” Attias added, emphasizing that such collaboration is “probably one of the solutions of all the major issues that the global economy is facing.” 

Attias called FII “probably the most inclusive platform in the world,” noting the presence of delegates from rival nations such as Russia and Ukraine, along with the US, China, and strong participation from the Global South and young entrepreneurs. 

“Riyadh is becoming the economic capital of the world, at least for the week,” Attias said, noting that FII has expanded from a three-day conference into a full week of events, with attendees arriving prior to the event and to capitalize on the opportunities within the Kingdom. 

The scale of activity, he admitted, is a “good problem to have,” but requires a “navigator” to manage the countless meetings and sectors on display.

He pointed to ����ֱ��’s Vision 2030, stating it is no longer a future plan but a reality “in motion,” encompassing sectors from sport and entertainment to food security, tourism, energy, and infrastructure. 

Attias stressed that FII has moved beyond symbolic memorandums of understanding. “Real deals are happening. Very concrete deals are signed,” he added in the interview. 

He linked this spirit of optimism and action to the institute’s resilience, recalling that FII was among the few major conferences held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This mindset, he said, reflects the FII Institute’s mission of creating an “impact on humanity.” 

This year’s event has attracted 9,000 delegates from nearly 100 countries, including participation from all Gulf Cooperation Council sovereign wealth funds. Attias said that by bringing together these funds with private equity firms, banks, financial institutions, and global CEOs, FII has created the “perfect equation” for driving global investment and collaboration. 

RIYADH: SandboxAQ, a US-based artificial intelligence and quantum technology firm, signed an agreement with Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund on Monday aimed at speeding up the development of drugs and creating biotech assets worth $1 billion.

The deal, announced on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, will see Bahrain’s Mumtalakat license SandboxAQ’s large quantitative models trained on physics, chemistry and biology to accelerate drug discovery and scientific research.

“The collaboration will help position Bahrain as a regional biotech hub, with a joint research committee guiding a three-year program aimed at developing valuable new drugs,” they said in a statement.

SandboxAQ CEO Jack Hidary told Reuters the partnership would empower Bahrain to create and own intellectual property in biotech, including therapies targeting diseases prevalent in the region such as diabetes and certain genetic disorders.

“Traditionally, the majority of biotech IP is owned in a handful of countries. This enables Bahrain to develop its own assets, focused both on regional and global health priorities,” Hidary said.

The agreement will use Bahrain’s digital health datasets and hospital infrastructure to develop therapies. Clinical trials are expected to begin in Bahrain, with potential for multi-site studies, Hidary added.

He added that SandboxAQ was receiving interest from other countries, including in the Gulf, for similar partnerships.

In January, Saudi oil giant Aramco signed an agreement with SandboxAQ to use its models to increase the value of downstream products.