Saudi ‘Davos in the desert’ opens with region on war footing

As the Gulf kingdom’s most ambitious development initiatives face growing doubt as conflict trembles the region, world business leaders gather in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a glamorous investor event.

The de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s goal of diversifying the economy of the largest crude exporter in the world away from oil was first showcased in 2017 with the launch of the Future Investment Initiative (FII).

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and the CEOs of Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are among the more than 7,000 attendees anticipated for this year’s three-day event.

Middle East turmoil is expected to influence panel discussions and side talks for the second consecutive year.

Last year’s FII took place just weeks after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, with high-level speakers warning about economic turmoil should the fighting draw in other countries.

A year later those fears have been realised, as Israel presses operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon and carries out tit-for-tat strikes with Iran.

“I suspect attendees will reflect seriously on the grinding nature of the Israel-Gaza war, a new invasion in Lebanon, and ongoing concerns over region-wide conflict escalations,” said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

“The Saudis have been effective in shielding their country from the worst effects of regional conflict for now, but it’s very difficult to find a silver lining in this manner of conflict raging across the Middle East region.”

FII Institute CEO Richard Attias told a press conference in Riyadh this month that the gathering is not meant to focus on “politics” and should instead tackle big-picture investments “to build a better world”.

“We are an independent platform and we don’t want to be, forgive me for the word, polluted by any political events,” said Attias, former producer of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“I am curating events for 35 years now, and I learned one thing: The show must go on.”