Saudi Arabia will host a key investment summit on Tuesday, overshadowed by the killing of critic Jamal Khashoggi that has prompted a wave of policymakers and corporate giants to withdraw. But that has failed to stem an exodus from the summit, whose organisers have taken down a list of speakers from its website.
Dozens of executives β from bankers JP Morgan to carmaker Ford and ride-hailing app Uber β scrapped plans to attend. On Saturday, organisers said more than speakers and moderators will participate. Last Monday, they had listed more than speakers. The event seeks to project the historically insular kingdom as a lucrative business destination, in a bid to diversify its oil-reliant economy and set the stage for new ventures and multi-billion dollar contracts.
Billed last year as an economic coming-out party for the conservative petro-state, the FII has now come to symbolise global outrage over the silencing of critics. Khashoggi, who had criticised Prince Mohammed, was last seen walking into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Senior investment bankers from HSBC and Credit Suisse are planning to attend the conference even though their chief executives have cancelled their attendance, Bloomberg News reported.
Companies from China and Russia have shown little interest in withdrawing from the event, an organiser said. But a wider Western boycott of the conference suggests rising political risks in Saudi Arabia that could cast a shadow over foreign direct investment, which a UN body said plunged last year to a year low. Further stoking investor anxiety, the kingdom is embroiled in an expensive war in Yemen and is leading an embargo against Qatar.
Riyadh has also engaged in diplomatic disputes with Germany and Canada that threatened business ties. Last week, pro-Saudi business figures on social media called for Gulf countries and allies of Riyadh to boycott companies that have pulled out of the FII.
