Saudi Gazette report

ZURICH — Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that Saudi Arabia is looking forward to exploring new areas to further deepen collaboration with Switzerland, including the insurance field, while tapping new markets and implementing best practices.

He said this while inaugurating the 4th Saudi-Swiss Financial Dialogue held in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday. Al-Jadaan headed the Saudi delegation to the conference and the delegation also included a number of senior officials from the Saudi Ministry of Finance, Saudi Central Bank, Insurance Authority, Financial Sector Development Program, and Fintech Saudi.

Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Finance & Vice President of the Swiss Federal Council Karin Keller-Sutter and several other Swiss officials also attended the dialogue.

In his opening speech, Al-Jadaan emphasized the importance of the dialogue in strengthening bilateral relations and achieving the common economic and financial sector interests. He noted that Switzerland is an important trading partner, with over 100 Swiss companies currently operating in the Kingdom.

He also reiterated the importance of building on the ongoing collaboration in Fintech, leveraging on the depth of expertise and large investments from both countries in this area.

In her speech, Keller-Sutter emphasized the importance of international cooperation in the financial sector. “Cooperation within the framework of international financial institutions plays a key role in preventing financial crises. Switzerland actively contributes to this with its expertise and capitalizes on its cooperation with Saudi Arabia in multilateral bodies,” she said.

The dialogue included discussions on new opportunities for collaboration between the two nations, the macroeconomic outlook, international multilateral cooperation, developments in the financial sector, in addition to an overview of the latest developments in banking, digital finance, insurance, and sustainable finance.