RIYADH — “COVID-19 accelerated business trends, innovations and global citizenship in profound ways.” That was the message from Yousef Al-Benyan, SABIC vice chairman and CEO, as leaders, investors and policymakers participated in the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Now in its fourth year, the conference was hosted by the FII Institute, a newly established non-profit global foundation, at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center (KAICC) in Riyadh, with speakers and audiences joining physically and virtually from FII satellites in New York, Paris, Beijing and Mumbai.

Al-Benyan was speaking as part of a panel discussion titled ‘The new CEO Playbook: How Leaders are reinventing work for the post-COVID world’.

He said: “The pandemic has been a catalyst for many changes that were already under way. It demanded a rethink on the future of work and the value that companies can create for employees, shareholders and wider society. The companies which thrive tomorrow will be those who best understand and embrace the opportunities emerging from these radical changes, new technologies and dynamic modes of work.”

He added, “The New Normal also brings a renewed urgency to environment, social and governance priorities. Employees, customers and stakeholders now expect that we will do everything in our power to ensure the environment we share does not become a casualty of the world’s prosperity. To achieve sustained global growth, large companies must elevate their global citizenship and generate value beyond the bottom line. — SG