• The summit was founded in 2013 to bridge the gap between CFOs and financial institutions
• The high-profile event provided a platform to bring together CEOs, presidents, chairmen, group CFOs, finance and treasury heads and thriving government agencies in the Kingdom

Halah Alshathri, Riyadh

The 7th Annual Saudi Trade Finance (STF) Summit took place recently in Riyadh, with the slogan “Enabling the Kingdom’s vision for a better future.”

The high-profile event provided a platform to bring together CEOs, presidents, chairmen, group CFOs, finance and treasury heads and thriving government agencies in the Kingdom to open up thought-provoking panels on current trends, challenges and opportunities in the finance sector.

The summit was founded in 2013 to bridge the gap between CFOs and financial institutions, and this year the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monshaat) organized, supported, developed and sponsored the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.

Monshaat, as a supporting partner of STF, told Arab News: “The efforts of Monshaat in the finance sector is verified into four categories dedicated to small and medium enterprises: Recovery initiative, finance portal, bold investment, and indirect lending with a total budget of approximately SR11.4 billion ($3.039 billion) distributed among them.

“An example of one portal is the finance portal matrix, that brings together entrepreneurs and owners of SMEs looking for financing, allow them to choose appropriate financing and connect them to 20 financing bodies including banks, finance companies and investment companies.”

The STF Summit’s informative conference sessions and unparalleled networking opportunities this year have emphasized the diversification of the economy to empower financial institutions and corporates in achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 Program through sustainable growth.