Now the program has been stripped of names and the list of speakers, once a who’s who of global business, has been heavily revised.
Most of the top global CEOs and finance officials who were due to participate in the Future Investment Initiative, dubbed “Davos in the desert,” pulled out in the last 10 days following the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2.
“[The conference] will immerse thousands of delegates from all over the world in a rich agenda comprised of more than 40 individual plenaries, summits, open discussions and taskforce sessions,” the Future Investment Initiative said in a statement last week.
“The Khashoggi story has damaged the reputation of the kingdom and has increased political uncertainty,” said Garbis Iradian, the chief economist for Middle East and North Africa at the Institute of International Finance. “[Businesses] may postpone or reduce doing business dealings in the kingdom and adopt a wait and see attitude,” he added.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund -— a sovereign wealth fund — will lead a delegation including more than 30 Russian entrepreneurs, executives and officials.
“We appreciate the constructive dialogue and are happy to share experiences, identify new joint projects and discuss promising areas for the development of comprehensive cooperation between a wide range of partners from Russia, Saudi Arabia and other countries,” RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said in a statement on Friday.
Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy is listed as a speaker at the Saudi conference.
UK government minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday that Britain isn’t going to “terminate” its relationship with Saudi Arabia, not just because of the “huge number of British jobs” that depend on the relationship but because to “exert influence over your partners you need to be able to talk to them.”
But the kingdom’s budding relationship with the global tech world is coming under intense pressure, and could be damaged.
SoftBank has remained silent over whether Son and other top executives still plan to attend the FII. The company declined to comment on the matter Friday.
The kingdom urgently needs to reverse a decline in foreign investment to diversify its economy and end what the crown prince once called an “addiction” to oil. Under Vision 2030, bin Salman wants to grow the private sector, boost tourism and reduce unemployment over the next decade.
The plan caught the imagination of many international players, including billionaire Richard Branson, who jumped on opportunities for two tourism projects and was in talks for a $1 billion investment in his space company.
Many international investors were convinced this time last year that Saudi Arabia was open for business. It will be a much harder sell this time around.
Source : Nbcnewyork