Considered to be one of the key markets to watch, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has proved its potential in the capital markets issuance space in 2012, with a slew of high-profile Sukuk issuances backed by the Saudi Arabian government. The single largest Sukuk issue ever originated from Saudi Arabia in January 2012, worth US$4 billion, by the General Authority of Civil Aviation. The Kingdom’s Sukuk market is now considered the third largest in the world, after Malaysia and the UAE, and is expected to continue to climb up the issuance ladder moving forward. Saudi Arabia’s population growth has also far outstripped the development of infrastructure in the Kingdom in multiple sectors; power, transport, ports, soft and social infrastructure such as healthcare and education. This is an exciting prospect for industry practitioners, for the development of the Kingdom’s Islamic project finance and infrastructure sector, as well as capital market growth.

An Introduction

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has proved its potential in the capital markets issuance space in 2012, with a slew of high-profile Sukuk issuances backed by the Saudi Arabian government. The single largest Sukuk issue ever originated from Saudi Arabia in January 2012, worth US$4 billion, by the General Authority of Civil Aviation. The Kingdom’s Sukuk market is now considered the third largest in the world, after Malaysia and the UAE, and is expected to continue to climb up the issuance ladder moving forward.

Also home to one of the most prominent Islamic finance institutions, the Islamic Development Bank, and the largest Islamic bank by assets in the world, Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s Islamic banking assets is currently worth an estimated US$94 billion, making up 26% of the total Islamic banking market. This has made the Kingdom an important focal point in the development of the Islamic banking and finance industry as a whole.

Saudi Arabia’s population growth has also far outstripped the development of infrastructure in the Kingdom in multiple sectors; power, transport, ports, soft and social infrastructure such as healthcare and education. This is an exciting prospect for industry practitioners, for the development of the Kingdom’s Islamic project finance and infrastructure sector, as well as capital market growth. From a legal standpoint, compared to the other five GCC members Saudi Arabia is also perhaps the most open to foreign investments, despite a perceived insularity by other markets. The difficulty in Saudi Arabia is not its openness to foreign direct investments but rather its underdeveloped laws, legal and court.

What is perhaps most needed in the kingdom now to create impetus to its Islamic finance cause is the further development of its capital markets, and increased enthusiasm in the secondary market trading space, to fully realize the potential of the Kingdom’s incredibly liquid position.

The 2013 IFN Saudi Arabia Issuers & Investors Forum will examine the immense potential of the Saudi Arabian Islamic issuance space, explore the growth opportunities linked to the Kingdom’s unrivalled liquidity and increasing interest from issuers and investors alike. Regulatory and tax developments are also high on the agenda of the 2013 IFN Saudi Arabia forum, for the benefit of Islamic finance practitioners looking to tap into this highly liquid market.

Through a series of exclusive regulatory country presentations, practitioner-led round-table discussions, non-debatable power presentations, original case studies and sector focused side sessions, the IFN Saudi Arabia forum in 2013 will again be the key, must-attend industry event for issuers, investors, regulators and all financial intermediaries involved in the Islamic financial markets with interest in the Saudi Arabian market.