Deals signed on the first day at Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative (FII) 2018 totalled over 55 billion U.S. dollars, said FII on Tuesday.

Organized by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), the three-day event is held in Riyadh from Oct. 23 to 25.

The contracts on the first day of FII 2018 included a number of projects covering energy, petrochemicals and transportation sectors, among which were the second phase of Haramain high-speed railway and the Saudi Land Bridge project.

At the opening conference, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, managing director of PIF, said that FII is a global platform which focuses on identifying future trends and opportunities that will help define the future of industries and ensure investments' contribution to sustained prosperity and development.

FII will work as a new institution with an independent board and CEO and have its own dedicated offices, staff and an annual program, instead of solely as an annual event, according to Al-Rumayyan.

The event will immerse thousands of delegates from all over the world in an agenda comprising more than 35 plenaries, summits, discussions and taskforce sessions, according to FII.