Saudi Arabia: Brazil and several Latin American countries have become the “epicenter of innovation” and investment, representatives from more than 100 countries declared at the fourth edition of the FII Priority Summit, which opened on Wednesday in Miami.

FII was launched in Riyadh with the backing of the Saudi Public Investment Fund in October 2017 and has since been hosted in six major cities including London, Hong Kong, Rio De Janeiro and Tokyo with the goal to identify actionable solutions for global challenges through strategic investment.

In his opening comments and at a press briefing, FII chairman and acting CEO Richard Attias praised Riyadh for bringing together investors, policymakers, and business leaders to discuss economic priorities and growth strategies.

“What we want is to be always a catalyst, and as I say, the curator of global conversation to help our constituents, to help stakeholders to understand where the money is going,” Attias said at a briefing attended by Arab News.

“We’re an investment conference. We’re not a political conference. So, this is extremely important. And for us, our mission is definitely to help business leaders, world leaders, media to understand all year long where the money is going in terms of, as I said, geographies and in terms of sectors.”

Attias noted that the Saudi capital is geographically the “very center of north, south, east, west. Riyadh is definitely our flagship event because the FII Institute was born in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.”

Attias said the FII Priority Summit has returned to Miami several times — for the fourth time since its launch in the city in 2023 — not because of its proximity to US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, but because Miami is one of the central hubs of the Western hemisphere.

“Miami is not just a location, it is a signal,” Attias said. “At a moment when capital is being reallocated, re-priced, and re-imagined, FII Priority Miami will move beyond dialogue to action, shaping partnerships, strategies, and decisions that matter.”

This year’s FII theme is “Capital in Motion,” with a focus on what the organisers call “The New LATAM Order” — intended to highlight investment in Latin America by connecting global capital with regional infrastructure, digital growth, and sustainability projects, and to foster long-term growth in artificial intelligence, technology, energy, and critical minerals.

Without referring directly to any specific conflict, Attias gestured toward the global disruptions triggered by the war in Iran — which have led to the cancellation or postponement of several high-profile international events — when he said the FII had chosen to press on regardless.

“The world is extremely resilient, and we are very proud at FII that we are a platform which never stopped. We never canceled. We never postponed. We were keeping moving forward because we know that it’s precisely in times of uncertainty that people need to be together.”

Trump is expected to address the more than 1,900 attendees at its closing meeting on Friday evening.

Several Saudi officials and associates addressed panels on Wednesday and Thursday, including Reema Bandar Al-Saud, ambassador to the United States; Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund, chairman of Saudi Aramco and chairman of the FII Institute; Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan, Saudi Minister of Finance, and Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Saudi Minister of Tourism.

Abdulrahman T. Bakir, managing director of the Ministry of Investment in the Americas, said during a panel discussion that “Latin America is the only place where you have more opportunities than capital.”

He highlighted AI as a particular area of interest, noting that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had designated 2026 the year of artificial intelligence. “When we look into investments now, it’s not like to invest in AI, but how we can invest with AI,” Bakir said, noting that the technology has already empowered investment decisions on Saudi capital flows between the Kingdom and the Americas.

Yazeed Saleh Alyahya, CEO of Saudi Eksab for International Investments, used Brazil as a centerpiece of his case for Latin America’s rise that has earned the world’s economic attention.

“Fifty years ago, Latin America — Brazil specifically — was a net importer of food. Today, Brazil, with a population of 220 million people, we provide calories and protein for over one billion people,” Alyahya said, citing what he called was Brazil’s historic stability to respond to global food-related needs.

“When we talk about global food security, agriculture is not only the most vulnerable side to climate change, but also to geopolitics. As we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, how much nitrogen (fertilizer) is vulnerable to the Strait of Hormuz passage. We haven’t had a conflict in Brazil for over 100 years, I think is a great pitch to attract capital.”

In addition to Trump, several members of his administration are also expected to address the FII gathering, including Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump Jr. and former treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to the FII program.