The Chairman of the Riyadh Chamber's Board of Directors, Engineer Abdullah Al-Obaikan, revealed the Chamber's intention to develop and restructure the Riyadh Economic Forum 2026, in a way that enhances its status as a more influential and sustainable national platform, raises the efficiency of its studies and outputs, and links them to economic priorities in support of decision-making and the transformation of knowledge into tangible developmental impact, according to what was reported by Okaz newspaper.
The announcement came during the opening of the forum's 12th edition, which launched on Monday and continues until October 14 at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center, where Al-Obaikan considered that the challenge, amid rapid economic transformations, is no longer limited to keeping pace with changes, but extends to anticipating them and turning them into opportunities for growth, noting that competitiveness does not depend on the abundance of resources alone, but rather on the quality of decision-making and the production and utilization of knowledge.
In its current edition, the forum is discussing a number of economic files, most notably the challenges of major cities, maximizing the economic returns of global events hosted by the Kingdom, developing legislation, transferring and localizing knowledge, and employing technologies and artificial intelligence to enhance water and food security — axes that link the outputs of strategic studies to the priorities of the current phase.
Al-Obaikan pointed out that the economic transformations witnessed by the Kingdom under Vision 2030 have contributed to expanding investment opportunities and enhancing the contribution of the private sector, stressing the importance of its role in foreseeing changes, creating solutions, and achieving sustainable development, which places the forum's upcoming restructuring within a broader context of developing its research tools and linking them to decision-makers.