Saudi investment forum seals billions in deals
AHIGH-PROFILE economic forum in Saudi Arabia began on Tuesday in Riyadh, with the crown prince making a brief public appearance at the kingdom’s first major event since the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has come under mounting pressure, with critics suspecting he ordered the highprofile operation or at least knew about it. Saudi authorities say they have arrested suspects and dismissed senior officials, but the crown prince has thus far escaped blame.
On Tuesday, King Salman and Prince Mohammed received Khashoggi’s son, Salah, and his brother, Sahel, at the Yamama Palace in Riyadh, where the two royals expressed their condolences. A friend of the Khashoggi family told The Associated Press that Salah has been under a travel ban since last year. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal.
Later Tuesday, the crown prince attended the investment forum alongside King Abdullah II of Jordan. Prince Mohammed sat front-row in the audience of an afternoon session and then looked at some promotional booths outside the main hall as an excited crowd of mostly young Saudi men filmed the encounter on their phones.
The forum is the brainchild of Prince Mohammed and is aimed at drawing more foreign investment into the kingdom to help create desperately needed jobs for millions of young Saudis entering the workforce in the coming years.
Despite the absence of key executives and speakers from the United States and other Western partners, some US$50 billion in deals were signed Tuesday at the forum, with Russian and Asian businesses and officials eager to do business with the kingdom.
“Those partners who are here with us today to continue that journey with us are certainly going to look back and find out ... how committed the kingdom is to its partners that stay the course,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said, just moments before several deals were inked on stage.
The forum last year grabbed headlines when Prince Mohammed wowed the crowd of global business titans with pledges to lead the ultraconservative kingdom towards “moderate Islam.” He also announced plans to build a US$500 billion futuristic city in the desert.
At the time, Prince Mohammed spoke on stage alongside Stephen Schwarzman of US private equity firm Blackstone.
Schwarzman is among those who’ve backed out of attending this year. Others include US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who met with Prince Mohammed separately before the forum, according to Saudi state television.
Among its many investments domestically and abroad, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which the crown prince oversees, has invested US$20 billion in a US-focused infrastructure fund with Blackstone.
The Public Investment Fund has also invested US$3.5 billion in ride-sharing firm Uber, whose CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also backed out of attending this year’s forum.
Lubna Olayan, a Saudi businesswoman moderating the forum’s first session Tuesday, opened with remarks about Khashoggi.
“As we gather here in Riyadh this morning, it is natural that our thoughts tend to focus on recent events surrounding the death of Jamal Khashoggi — a writer, a journalist and a Saudi journalist known to many of us,” she said. “May he rest in peace.”
She added that such “terrible acts ... are alien to our culture and DNA.” Some in the crowd applauded her remarks.
Directors of the Saudi, Russian and United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth funds took part in the opening panel. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan headlined another session, with Jordan’s King Abdullah II expected to speak at the forum today, Wednesday.
“I think this conference will open the gateways to Asian and Russian investment in the Saudi economy regardless, irrespective if the crisis gets resolved or not,” said Ayham Kamel of Eurasia Group.
At the opening of the conference, al-Falih described the journalist’s killing as “abhorrent”.
“As we all know, these are difficult days for us in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” alFalih said in a speech to attendees seated in the forum’s ornate hall. “Nobody in the kingdom can justify it or explain it. From the leadership on down, we’re very upset at what has happened,” he added.