RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Forum is set to enhance ties with China’s capital markets by venturing beyond borders to host the next edition in Hong Kong. The Capital Market Forum — CONNECT Hong Kong, set for May 9 in the port city, was announced by Khalid Al-Hussan, CEO of Saudi Tadawul Group, during a fireside chat at the Riyadh forum. Al-Hussan said: “I’m very delighted to announce today, and for the first time, we will be taking the Capital Market Forum beyond Saudi borders in collaboration with the Hong Kong Exchange on May 9. We will be conducting the Capital Market Forum in Hong Kong, under what we call CMF Connect.” He added: “The event will help integrate the Saudi capital market with the rest of the world. This is the first step for us to take it outside Saudi, so that would be also an additional value to the forum in the future.” The forum, designed to facilitate cross-border investments and foster collaboration, will feature a series of strategic discussions and networking platforms, inviting key financial minds and decision-makers. It is also the first Asian edition and is poised to contribute to economic growth, enhance the integration of global financial markets, and further elevate the interconnectivity of the Saudi capital market with essential hubs in line with Vision 2030’s Financial Sector Development Program. Al-Hussan also outlined the reasons behind diversifying their offerings to serve additional clients, highlighting three key motivations, including enabling the reforms of the country and the economy, strengthening the company’s position and deliverables to clients, and providing additional products. He further elaborated that various economic sectors, such as minerals and other initiatives, require commodity markets to serve their needs. “Today, most of these are using international markets for picking up that reference. We do think that we got the opportunity to enable that to happen within the Kingdom,” Al-Hussan said. He added: “Second, for diversification purposes, we want to strengthen our position, strengthen our offering for our clients.” Al-Hussan went on to say: “The third, as a listed entity, we want to grow our business by offering further products and grow our business lines, and this is one of the business lines we’re focusing on.” Furthermore, he underscored the significant growth in registered qualified foreign investor files in Saudi Arabia’s financial system. As of 2017, there were only 50 registered QFI files. “Today we have more than 3,700 QFI registered in the system owing roughly around $85 billion positions in the Saudi exchange or in the Saudi corporates actually,” Al-Hussan said. He added: “There is also an advantage of promoting the Kingdom overall. I think the government has made over 700 regulatory and business reforms over the course of the last few years, and all of these are focused on opening up the economy, Opening up the market, and promoting investments to the Kingdom.” Al-Hussan went on to say: “We continue to do the same. We continue to do this in two legs; one, continue to do and diversify our offering to the market or to the investors. Second, we continue our promotion and indication efforts.”