Future Investment Initiative gets postponed to next year

The Future Investment Initiative (FII), the Kingdom’s flagship investment conference, has been pushed to next year. FII — also referred to as Davos in the Desert — was due to run this month, with unconfirmed reports suggesting organizers were considering introducing hybrid attendance as a concession due to the security situation. CEO Princess Maha bint Mishari Al Saud said in a statement the decision reflects a commitment to delivering the event at full scale. The FII team declined EnterpriseAM’s request to comment further on the status of deals and announcements originally planned for the event.

The decision follows days of Houthi attacks and air-raid alerts sounding in Riyadh. It also marks a change of approach. As recently as two weeks ago the Kingdom was keeping its flagship events on the calendar while foreign carriers and executives stayed away. The WPC Energy Congress went ahead as planned earlier this month despite chief executives of oil companies, including ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell, and BP, scrapping plans to attend the event.

Organizers are now pushing dates into 2027 rather than rescheduling within months. Intersec has moved to October 2027, with organizer Messe Frankfurt Saudi Arabia citing a careful review of the situation and putting safety and wellbeing first. Two of the Kingdom’s biggest construction trade shows, Saudi Build and Saudi Elenex, have also been pushed from early November to 1-4 November 2027.

REMEMBER- The run of postponements also covers the EU’s summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council, originally set for 24 October; the Asian Tour’s season-ending PIF Saudi International, due 18-21 November and now shelved indefinitely over “organisational and logistical challenges”; and the Urban Cycling World Championships, which the Union Cycliste Internationale said “will not proceed” after being scheduled for 3-7 November in Riyadh.