Global leaders, tycoons flock to Saudi ‘Davos in desert’

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia drew top finance moguls and political leaders to its Davos-style investment summit Tuesday, in stark contrast to last year when outrage over critic Jamal Khashoggi's murder sparked a mass boycott. Organisers say 300 speakers from over 30 countries, including American officials and heads of global banks and sovereign wealth funds, are attending the three-day Future Investment Initiative (FII), nicknamed "Davos in the desert".A strong turnout at the event, aimed at projecting the insular kingdom as a dynamic investment destination, would help repair de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's global image that was tainted by journalist Khashoggi's gruesome killing last October."I have been coming to Saudi Arabia for 20 years but what I have been seeing particularly in the past two or three years is (economic) transformation," Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani told the conference, lauding the kingdom´s leaders."As a businessman and as an investor I'm all in." Thousands of delegates, including world leaders and finance moguls, crammed into a chandelier studded ballroom at Riyadh's palatial Ritz-Carlton hotel, in very different scenes to 2018 when many of the sessions were empty.The murder at Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate triggered one of the top crude exporter´s worst crises and prompted a wave of business and political leaders to pull out of last year´s conference at the 11th hour.Despite the enthusiastic turnout this year, many delegates were still squeamish about being named in media interviews -- and some hid their name cards behind their ties -- in a sign of lingering reputational risk of doing business with the Saudis.But in general the event has undergone a reboot as global outrage fades. "More than 6,000 executives and participants are attending," said Yasir al-Rumayyan, chief of the kingdom´s vast Public Investment Fund which organised the conference. "This is more than double the first FII. The growth has been incredible."India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, leaders of key emerging markets, are set to speak along with King Abdullah II of Jordan and four African leaders.US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin leads a high-powered American delegation that includes Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior advisor to President Donald Trump."This is a major victory" for the crown prince -- often known by his initials MBS -- said Samuel Ramani, a doctoral researcher at Oxford University. "To see corporate leaders now argue that Saudi Arabia has made both reforms and mistakes under MBS and argue for the value of economic engagement with Riyadh suggests that the business world is moving on from Khashoggi's murder," he said.

from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2MZXR7o