RIYADH: On the second day of the Global Cybersecurity Forum, discussions focused sharply on the critical role of cybersecurity in influencing foreign direct investment.
“Investors want to know that leaders both in government and in business take cybersecurity seriously at the very top, they want to see budgets allocated, regulations enforced, and results reported,” Bocar A. Ba, CEO of SAMENA Telecommunications Council, said.
“That visible prioritization is what gives them confidence that risks are managed, opportunities are sustainable, and the capital, most importantly, is protected,” he added.
In a session focused on securing investment, experts emphasized that cyber readiness directly shapes investor confidence and national risk profiles, urging top-level prioritization of cybersecurity, noting that nations and companies able to demonstrate robust cyber defenses are better positioned for economic success.
In what he called the single most important action, Ba stated: “Making cybersecurity a leadership priority and not a cost to be managed quietly in an IT department, and not a box to tick for compliance but a central pillar for national and corporate economic strategy.”
