Hamad Al-Sayari: A brief overview of the Saudi Arabian banking sector Speech by His Excellency Hamad Al-Sayari, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, at the opening of a branch of the National Bank of Kuwait, Jeddah, 6 May 2006. *  *  *  Dear Audience, It gives me great pleasure to be here tonight to inaugurate the branch of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) in Jeddah, a city which has long been known for embracing the business sector due to its closeness to the sacred places and its unique location on the Red Sea. The commencement of NBK of its banking operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia marks further consolidation of cordial relations between the two brotherly countries (Saudi Arabia and Kuwait). This is one of the fruits of mutual Gulf work which the leaderships of the two countries are keen to enhance. Dear Brothers, The inauguration of NBK branch comes at a time when the Kingdom is witnessing robust economic performance. In 2005, the Saudi economy grew in real terms by 6.5 percent; the private sector registered a real growth of 6.6 percent. What is reassuring is that the private sector has become the main impetus of the Saudi economy. Its average growth rate for the past years stood at 5.3 percent.
Unfortunately, the international environment is rarely stable: we have lived through many financial and other crises, we have just come through a pandemic and we are all aware of the geopolitical challenges across the world. We will overcome current and future challenges as we have done so in the past – by constantly evolving to meet the needs of the nation and of the world. In recent years, Hong Kong’s role has further evolved to include providing a pathway for the ever-expanding international use of the RMB. That will remain our key task for the foreseeable future. Our unique and irreplaceable role in connecting the Mainland and the rest of the world will continue to provide us with many exciting opportunities that we must be ready to seize. 18. I am sure the TMA and all its members will continue to participate actively in this journey to support Hong Kong’s status as an ever-evolving and highly resilient international financial centre for the mutual benefit of the nation and the international investment community. Thank you. 1 Source: The Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) and Boston Consulting Group’s  (BCG) report “Climate Finance Markets and the Real Economy” https://www.sifma.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/12/Climate-Finance-Markets-and-the-Real-Economy.pdf 2 Source: The PBoC Governor Yi Gang’s speech on 16 April 2021  https://www.bis.org/review/r210416a.htm  Last revision date : 16 September 2022