Saudi Arabia on Monday deferred its major annual investor conference to 2027 amid a recent surge in missile and drone attacks on the kingdom by Iran-backed Houthi militants.
The Future Investment Initiative was initially slated to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from October 26 to 29. However, the conference organisers said the revised dates for the 2027 edition would be announced shortly, CNBC reported.
The conference delay follows an October 10 attack by the Houthis on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, which reportedly killed at least 12 people and left more than 300 injured.
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The conference featured an impressive lineup of leading figures from the business and financial sectors, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser.
The 10th edition of the conference, popularly dubbed “Davos in the Desert”, was initially scheduled for October 26–29 in Riyadh. Considered Saudi Arabia's flagship platform for attracting foreign investment and promoting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 economic diversification programme, the event regularly draws world leaders and leading Wall Street executives, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
CNBC reported that some attendees and speakers intended to reach Riyadh by flying to Bahrain first and then undertaking a five-hour drive to the Saudi capital.
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund established the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in 2017 as part of the kingdom's efforts to diversify its oil-reliant economy. Since its inception, the conference has become a key platform for advancing Riyadh's economic transformation agenda.
At its inaugural edition in 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled NEOM, an ambitious megaproject central to the kingdom's development plans.
The postponement of the conference highlights the worsening security environment in the Middle East as the US-Iran conflict expands across the region. Houthi militants have carried out repeated waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia since the deadly airport strike earlier this month.
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The abrupt postponement undermines Riyadh's efforts to portray itself as a stable investment destination and attract tens of billions of dollars in foreign direct investment, highlighting the continued vulnerability of Gulf economic centres to ongoing regional tensions.
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