Saudis Scrap In-Person Attendance for Flagship Investment Event

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Saudi Arabia has ruled out holding its flagship investment conference in person this year as continuing Houthi attacks disrupt travel into the kingdom, dealing a blow to Riyadh’s efforts to attract foreign capital and position itself as a global business hub.

Organizers are weighing whether to hold the tenth edition of the Future Investment Initiative entirely virtually or postpone it, according to people familiar with the discussions, who declined to be identified as the information is confidential. A final decision is expected within days, one of the people said.

Representatives for the FII declined to comment.

The conference is due to start on Oct. 26 and is slated to feature the likes of Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Solomon and BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink.

The move follows multiple attacks on the kingdom in recent days. Strikes on Riyadh airport have killed more than a dozen people, disrupted flights and forced the postponement or cancellation of several events.

FII organizers have been considering a range of contingency measures to keep the conference on track, and said as recently as last week that they were preparing to “welcome thousands of delegates to Riyadh.”

That underscored the event’s importance to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to make Saudi Arabia’s case to the global financial establishment — particularly crucial this year, with the war straining Riyadh’s economy.

The conference generated agreements worth more than $50 billion in 2025, and Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan has said it has facilitated more than $250 billion in cumulative deals since inception. The ultimate value of those deals is difficult to ascertain, as many agreements involve non-binding memoranda of understanding, but key announcements have been unveiled at past editions.

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