Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Heads of state and global leaders have begun arriving in the Saudi capital ahead of the 9th edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII9), which officially opens Monday in Riyadh under the theme “The Key to Prosperity.”

As of Saturday, at least four of the 20 current and former heads of state expected to attend have already arrived in Riyadh, including Prime Minister Manuel Cruz of Cuba, Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa of Palestine, Prime Minister Milojko Spajic of Montenegro, and Vice President Jessica Alupo of Uganda.

Set to be held at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center (KAICC) from October 27, the event will bring together some of the world’s most influential voices in investment, innovation, and global development to address the “Paradox of Innovation” — exploring how transformative technologies can be harnessed to drive sustainable growth and shared prosperity.

FII9 is expected to attract over 8,000 participants and 650 speakers across 250 sessions, reaffirming Riyadh’s position as a leading global hub for economic dialogue and forward-looking investment strategies.

This year’s speaker lineup includes global business and innovation leaders such as Yasir Al-Rumayyan (Governor of PIF and Chairman of Saudi Aramco & FII Institute), Jamie Dimon (Chairman & CEO of JPMorgan Chase), Jane Fraser (CEO of Citi), Shaoqing Zhang (Executive VP of China Investment Corporation), Sarah Friar (CFO of OpenAI), John Pagano (CEO of Red Sea Global), Ruth Porat (President & CIO of Alphabet & Google), Julie Sweet (Chair & CEO of Accenture), Lip-But Tan (CEO of Intel), and Ambassador Reema Bandar Al Saud (Saudi Ambassador to the United States).