RIYADH – Dozens of global policymakers and tycoons will attend a Saudiinvestment summit starting Tuesday, helping the kingdom turn the page on acritic’s murder that triggered a mass boycott last year.
A strong turnout at the three-day Future Investment Initiative (FII),nicknamed “Davos in the desert”, would further rehabilitate de facto rulerCrown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s image, a year on from the killing ofjournalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Washington Post columnist’s murder last October at Saudi Arabia’sIstanbul consulate triggered one of the top crude exporter’s worst crisesand prompted a wave of business and political leaders to pull out of theglitzy annual conference at the last minute.
But the event, aimed at projecting the insular kingdom as a dynamicinvestment destination, is set for a reboot this year as global outragedissipates.
Leading the high-profile attendees are Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modiand Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, guests of honour who are set toaddress the conference, a Western official told AFP.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will also lead a high-powered Americandelegation including Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s senior advisorand son-in-law.
“This is the biggest event on the annual business calendar in SaudiArabia,” said Steffen Hertog, an associate professor at the London Schoolof Economics.
“International businesses have moved on from Khashoggi.”
– ‘Open arms’ –
Blue-chip firms such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup arealso set to send top executives to this year’s event, according to US media.
“Global companies operating in Saudi Arabia today often want to operateunder the radar or avoid talking about their business there,” asset managerBlackRock’s chief executive Larry Fink, who withdrew from last year’s FII,wrote on LinkedIn to justify his return this year.
“I believe just the opposite. Corporate leaders should be having a publicdialogue about it. Not because everything in Saudi Arabia is perfect — butprecisely because everything is not.”
Global banks and consultants are vying for business around the hotlyanticipated initial public offering of state oil giant Aramco, the world’smost profitable company.
The kingdom plans to list as much as five percent of Aramco, which analystssay could be worth between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion.
“Last year, some international businesses thought it was better to avoidsending top level representation as it was so close in the aftermath of theKhashoggi affair,” said Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder of London-basedconsultancy Cornerstone Global Associates, who has vigorously defended thekingdom’s stand on the killing.
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“This year… the optics are no longer seen as a reason to boycott such animportant event. Global businesses want to do business in Saudi and Saudiis inviting (them) with open arms.”
But the organisers are not inviting media scrutiny. The FII website has notlisted its speakers, saying only that it will “bring together decisionmakers, leading investors and global experts”.
– Quietly returning –
The CIA has reportedly concluded that the crown prince, who controls allmajor levers of power in the Saudi government, likely ordered the gruesomekilling.
Prince Mohammed has said that he accepts responsibility, because ithappened “under my watch” — but denied having prior knowledge.
Some global companies seeking to sidestep any reputational risks of doingbusiness with Saudi Arabia will avoid the conference but are likely topursue meetings on the sidelines, observers say.
“Businesses are quietly returning to their profit-making activities inSaudi Arabia, but they remain on the hook for their own human rightsresponsibilities,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HumanRights Watch.
The global fallout over Khashoggi’s killing rendered Prince Mohammed apariah, testing alliances with Western powers and casting a shadow on hisambitious reform agenda aimed at weaning the kingdom off its dependence onoil.
Riyadh has struggled to attract the foreign investment it needs, especiallysince a 2017 crackdown when the palatial Ritz-Carlton hotel, the venue forthe FII, was turned into a five-star prison for hundreds of Saudi businessexecutives and some royal family members.
But as it attempts to draw a line under the Khashoggi scandal, thegovernment has hosted Western musicians at dazzling entertainment events,eased restrictions on women’s rights and started issuing tourist visas forthe first time.
Saudi Arabia recently climbed 30 places to 62nd in the World Bank’s Ease ofDoing Business index for carrying out what it called a “record number ofbusiness reforms in the past year”.
But Cinzia Bianco, Gulf Research Fellow at the European Council on ForeignRelations, said the kingdom had its work cut out to diversify its economy.
“The real challenge for Saudi policymakers is to attract long-terminvestments in non-energy-related ventures,” she said. -APP/AFP
