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Arab News, Tuesday, Oct 26, 2021 | Rabi Al-Awwal 19, 1443\


Saudi Arabia came out ahead of COVID pandemic, proved its resilience: Al-Falih at FII

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment, Khalid al-Falih, on Tuesday said that the Kingdom came out “ahead” of the COVID-19 pandemic and proved its resilience, at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Summit in Riyadh.

“Here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I’m happy to say that despite all of the uncertainties… we really came out ahead, relatively speaking, there have been some suffering. There have been some losses, but the Kingdom, proved its resilience,” al-Falih said.

For his part, John Defterios, Senior adviser at APCO Worldwide and a Professor of Business at NYU Abu Dhabi, said the COVID-19 pandemic was “the mother of all challenges.”

Defterios praised Saudi Arabia’s handling of the pandemic.

“The trust level in Saudi society went up the social contract because they felt even though it was a very difficult, the [COVID-19 pandemic, they felt that the government was there for the strict rules, quick response to the medical challenge, the right investments, right quarantining…” he said.

Defterios, who was moderating the panel titled ‘New Social Contract: The Evolving Role of Business and Government,’ asked al-Falih what the number one lesson was from the pandemic.

“Obviously COVID has been a shock, it’s a shock to businesses, it’s a shock I think, most fundamentally to us, at the personal level for families,” al-Falih said.

The fifth edition of Saudi Arabia’s annual investment forum, FII, is taking place between October 26 to 28 this year in the Kingdom’s capital Riyadh under the theme of ‘Invest in Humanity.’

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