Saudi Arabia Postpones Major Investment Summit Until Next Year Amid Houthi Attacks
Amid deadly attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Saudi Arabia's high-level international economic forum, the Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit, has been postponed until next year. The matter was confirmed in a statement on the organising body's official website.
Under the previously fixed schedule, the global annual summit was due to begin on 26 October and end on 29 October. In a notice published on Tuesday, however, the organisers said the revised dates for next year would be announced 'very soon'.
Explaining the reason for the postponement, FII Institute chief executive Dr Maha bint Mishari Al Saud said the decision had been taken out of 'deep commitment to our partners, members, speakers and delegates'.
She said: 'As this is our tenth and a special milestone edition, we want to ensure that the summit is held with its full scope, extraordinary quality and memorable impact — which our community expects and truly deserves.'
The platform, informally dubbed the 'Davos in the desert' in parallel with Switzerland's World Economic Forum, usually presents Saudi Arabia's future-oriented economic plans on the world stage.
The main goal of the state-backed event is to draw hundreds of billions of dollars of international investment into modern sectors such as tourism, sport and technology while reducing oil dependence. The postponement is therefore a significant event for Saudi economic diplomacy.
According to the summit's website, top executives of world-famous multinational companies were due to attend this year's edition. The list included influential figures such as Alphabet and Google president and chief investment officer Ruth Porat, Goldman Sachs Group chairman and chief executive David Solomon, and BlackRock chairman and chief executive Lawrence Fink.
Meanwhile, fighting has intensified anew in recent days between the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognised government and the Tehran-close Houthis.
The armed group, known as Ansar Allah, has been carrying out successive attacks on Saudi military installations, energy infrastructure and ordinary civilian areas, including Riyadh's international airport.
At least 18 people have been killed and several hundred wounded in these attacks so far, according to the material in this report. In this security situation, hosting a large summit with hundreds of international guests became difficult.
Although the postponement announcement did not directly name the attacks as the cause, the timing and context suggest security concerns played a major role behind the decision in analysts' discussion — even though the organisers' official language emphasised quality and preparation.
Attention now turns to the announcement of new dates for next year, as promised by the organisers. Only when that announcement comes will it be clear when, and on what scale, this postponed milestone edition will be held.
