Saudi Arabia’s highly anticipated investment conference, initially scheduled for October 26-29, has been postponed due to a rise in missile and drone attacks from Iranian-backed Houthi militants.
Saudi Arabia has postponed a major investment conference scheduled to take place in Riyadh next week, dealing a setback to the kingdom’s economic ambitions amid escalating attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants.
However, organisers decided to call off the October 26-29 conference following a series of Houthi attacks on the Saudi capital, including a deadly missile strike earlier this month targeting Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.
The future investment initiative (FII), widely known as “Davos in the Desert”, will now be held on an unspecified date in 2027, as reported by CNN. The cancellation represents a setback for Saudi Arabia’s efforts to reduce its dependence on oil and natural gas by attracting international investment and expanding other sectors of its economy. The kingdom has spent decades seeking to draw western capital into the Middle East and strengthen its position as a global investment destination. However, the deteriorating security environment threatens to weaken those efforts and could usher in a period of investment uncertainty, with potential consequences extending beyond Saudi Arabia to the wider region.