DUBAI - A public spat between the United States and Saudi Arabia will not deter top Wall Street executives and U.S. business leaders from a flagship investment event starting on Tuesday where the kingdom will seek deals to reduce its economy’s reliance on oil.
FII recovered in 2019 after the uproar over Khashoggi's killing by Saudi agents, drawing big names from financial, defence and energy firms with strategic interests in the world's top oil exporter, but garnered relatively meagre foreign inflows. Top executives from Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Bridgewater Associates, Boeing and Franklin Templeton are on the agenda. Goldman Sachs declined comment, while the rest did not respond.
The FII is a showcase for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 development plan to wean the economy off oil by creating new industries that also generate jobs for millions of Saudis, and to lure foreign capital and talent.Foreign direct investment still lags behind targets, though there has been movement in new sectors as the kingdom opens up.
Uncertainty lingers around the regulatory and tax environment as well as high operational costs and lack of a skilled local workforce, even after Riyadh handed companies an ultimatum to locate regional headquarters in the kingdom by 2024 or lose out on lucrative government contracts.