The annual event is typically used by attendees as an opportunity to build relationships with some of Saudi Arabia's biggest companies and its $778-billion sovereign wealth fund, drawn by the promise of deals as the kingdom embarks on an ambitious reform plan to wean its economy off oil.
Although the globe's top financiers dwelt little on the conflict, speaking about topics such as artificial intelligence, the economic fallout of war combined with record debts as rates rise created a bleak backdrop. HSBC Group CEO Noel Quinn also warned of the perils of heavy government debts. "I’m concerned about a tipping point on fiscal deficits," he said. "When it comes, it will come fast and I think there are a number of economies in the world where there could be a tipping point and it will hit hard."it was preparing for "unrelenting attacks" to dismantle Hamas. Former U.S.
Goldman Sachs' Salomon addressed the potential for more dealmaking after this week's announcement by U.S. energy giant Chevron "Say you have 30% unused space in office buildings, that means those office buildings are not survivable as economic entities. So that's going to have a very bad ending," Schwarzman said.
This year's forum is meant to demonstrate that eastward shift. There will be 70 speakers from Asia, of whom 40 will be Chinese, FII Institute CEO Richard Attias told Reuters.