Saudi investment summit in crisis over journalist’s killing
Global policymakers, media and corporations back out of the kingdom’s Future Investment Initiative conference
Riyadh — 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. Just ahead of the three-day Future Investment Initiative (FII), dubbed “Davos in the desert”, the kingdom sought to defuse the crisis with an about-face admission on Saturday that the journalist died in its consulate in Istanbul. 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 — from bankers JP Morgan to carmaker Ford and ride-hailing app Uber — scrapped plans to attend. Media powerhouses like Bloomberg, CNN and the Financial Times have also pulled out and on Saturday, Australia withdrew its representatives, saying it was “no longer appropriate” to attend, due to the Khashoggi affair. On Saturday, organisers said more than 120 speakers and moderators will participate. Last Monday, they had lis...
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