A high-profile investment summit in Riyadh later this month is rapidly becoming a fiasco as prominent businesses and media groups have pulled out over Saudi Arabia’s alleged involvement in the disappearance and possible murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Hosted under the leadership of HRH Prince Mohammed…
A high-profile investment summit in Riyadh later this month is rapidly becoming a fiasco as prominent businesses and media groups have pulled out over Saudi Arabia’s alleged involvement in the disappearance and possible murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Background
Hosted under the leadership of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the second annual Future Investment Initiative is intended to serve as a platform to drive expert-driven debates and partnership among the world’s influential leaders in business, government and civil society.
Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 project – the brainchild of the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – is strongly dependent on overseas investment.
Analysis
World Bank president Jim Yong Kim; Sir Richard Branson – Editor in Chief of the Economist; Zanny Minton Beddoes, Uber CEO; Dara Khosrowshahi has pulled out of Saudi Arabia`s second edition of Future Investment Initiative, a conference widely known as the “Davos of the Middle East”.
Sir Richard Branson has halted talks over $1bn Saudi investment in Virgin space firms after the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He has also suspended directorships in two tourism projects.
Mr. Khashoggi, a noted critic of the Saudi government, disappeared when visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week. Police from his native country Turkey, told US officials they have evidence that proves Mr. Khashoggi was killed, the Washington Post said.
In a statement, Sir Richard said: “What has reportedly happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if proved true, would clearly change the ability of any of us in the West to do business with the Saudi Government. We have asked for more information from the authorities in Saudi and to clarify their position in relation to Mr Khashoggi.”
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said he was “very troubled” by the reports and that he would not attend the conference unless a substantially different set of facts emerge. Viacom chief executive Bob Bakish, who was due to speak at the conference, has decided to not attend the event, a company spokesman said. AOL co-founder Steve Case said he had put his plans on hold.
JP Morgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon and Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga are still listed to speak at the conference, as is UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox. Various media firms have also pulled out or put plans on hold. The New York Times has pulled out of the event as a media sponsor, and the Financial Times is reviewing its involvement as a media partner.
Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes will not participate, and neither will Andrew Ross Sorkin, a CNBC anchor and New York Times business journalist. Bloomberg has said it, too, will not be a media partner of the event. A spokesperson for the Saudi conference said it was “disappointing” that some speakers and partners had pulled out, but said it would still go ahead.
Meanwhile, former US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said that he had suspended his role on the board of Saudi Arabia’s planned mega business zone Neom until more is known about what happened to Mr. Khashoggi.
Counterpoint
Some of the world’s richest and most influential leaders including U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Larry Fink , chairman and CEO , BlackRock Inc, John M Flint – group chief executive HSBC Holdings are slated to attend the government-backed conference bankrolled by the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
Assessment
Our assessment is that harsh handling of a mild critic like Khashoggi by Saudi crown Mohammed Bin Salman is overshadowing more admirable policies, which include the curbing of religious police, letting women drive and encouraging them to work. We sense that Prince Mohammed Bin Salman may perhaps inadvertently be creating an Arab nationalist dictatorship – socially liberal but centralized – built much on fear and this may not augur well for the future of Saudi.
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