'Davos in the Desert' conference kicks off in Saudi Arabia

International businessmen will meet Tuesday in Riyadh to participate in the "Future Investment Initiative" conference, in a fifth edition that seeks to show the Kingdom as a dynamic investment destination after the decline of the coronavirus in the wealthy region.

The conference, described as "Davos in the Desert," was launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2017 to attract foreign investors and promote Vision 2030 to diversify the Saudi economy, which relies heavily on oil.

Last year, Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, faced a double whammy of the coronavirus and record low oil prices, while work was suspended on parts of the giant projects announced in recent years.

Saudi Arabia, which has immunized more than 60 percent of its population with two doses of a vaccine, is seeking to return to the investment path again.

The heads of the largest international banks, asset management companies and global investment funds will participate in the conference, which is organized under the title "Investing in Humanity."

Hundreds of participants gathered at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh for the opening session and the discussion sessions that followed.

Among the attendees were Goldman Sachs Group CEO David Solomon, Blackstone Private Equity President Stephen Schwarzman, and BlackRock Asset Management CEO Larry Fink, who participated in the first panel discussion moderated by the network's economics anchor. 

It is unclear whether the Crown Prince, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, will speak before the conference.

The conference began with a short film on the devastating effects of natural disasters, including horrific clips of forest fires, severe hurricanes and torrential floods, and others highlighting the impact of environmental pollution on living organisms above the ground and in the depths of the seas.

In the opening speech of the conference, the Saudi-American scientist Ghada Al-Mutairi said that "the epidemic has made it clear that what happens in one part of the world affects the other," and she continued, "It is an interconnected world and we are in it together."

"It is not a choice between the economy and the environment," she added. "Both must be strengthened."

The conference comes a day after the Crown Prince pledged to invest more than one billion dollars in new environmental initiatives.

It also comes after his announcement on Saturday that his country intends to reach carbon neutrality by 2060 during the "Green Saudi Arabia" initiative, days before the start of the international climate conference "COP26" in Glasgow.

The murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 by Saudi agents in Istanbul prompted a number of leaders and businessmen to withdraw from that year's edition at the last minute.

But the forum came back to life in 2019 with the waning of global anger over crime, before things returned to normal in the fourth edition, which was held in a virtual form last January, with only 200 people attending in person.