A Bangladeshi delegation led by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus’s international affairs special envoy, Lutfey Siddiqi, will represent Bangladesh at the ninth edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII9) in Riyadh, beginning Monday.
The information was confirmed on Friday by sources at the chief adviser’s office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
Although Prof Yunus’s name still appears on the list of global leaders attending the conference, he will not be attending the event. The four-day event will be held at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre in Riyadh.
In July, during a meeting at the State Guest House Jamuna, the Saudi Ambassador to Dhaka, Dr Abdullah Zafer bin Abiyah handed an invitation from the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, to the chief adviser.
According to the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing, this marks the first time since 2017 that any Bangladeshi government chief has received such an invitation.
Notable participants in FII9 include Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Public Investment Fund and Chairman of Saudi Aramco and the FII Institute Yasir Al-Rumayyan, China’s Vice-President Han Zheng, CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund and special envoy of the President Kirill Dmitriev, Director-General of the World Trade Organization Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, UK Member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, and Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
Other global leaders attending the conference include Laura Cha, director of the Bretton Woods Committee, former chair of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), and trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation; Ruth Porat, president and CIO of Alphabet and Google; Dr Eric Schmidt, founder and CEO of Schmidt Family Foundation and Schmidt Sciences, and former CEO and chairman of Google; Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup; Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, CIO mentor, board member, and founder of the Dalio Family Office; and Evan Spiegel, co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc.
The conference will highlight key global issues shaping the future, including tackling income inequality, free trade and its geopolitical spillovers, driving sustainable growth, global competition in quantum computing and AI leadership, and progress and challenges in energy transition.
