DUBAI - A public spat between the United States and Saudi Arabia will not deter top Wall Street executives and US business leaders from a flagship investment event starting on Tuesday, where the kingdom will seek deals to reduce its economy’s reliance on oil.
This year’s edition, running Oct 25-27, includes JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon, Pimco Vice-Chairman John Studzinski and a BNY Mellon executive as speakers, and they still plan to go, spokespeople for the companies told Reuters. “For the most part, I do not see US companies actively avoiding Saudi Arabia due to recent political tensions,” said Mr Adel Hamaizia, managing director at Highbridge Advisory and a visiting fellow at Harvard University.
Foreign direct investment still lags behind targets, though there has been movement in new sectors as the kingdom opens up. As Boeing netted an US$80 million defence contract last year, Fedex announced a US$400 million 10-year investment plan in the country, the Arab world’s biggest economy. “FDI flows have remained stubbornly flat and low, under 1 per cent of GDP, and some of the notable names that have invested have had only modest success, even with government backing,” said Mr Justin Alexander, director of Khalij Economics and Gulf analyst at GlobalSource Partners.