Despite widespread fears regarding travel in the Middle East after an increasing conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists, Wall Street’s top financiers came up in force for an annual financial conference in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The conference was held in Saudi Arabia.
Speakers at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Riyadh included high-profile bankers and asset managers such as David Solomon of Goldman Sachs (GS.N.), Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan (JPM.N.), and Jane Fraser of Citi (C.N.). The Future Investment Initiative (FII) was in charge of hosting the meeting.
As the kingdom embarks on an ambitious reform plan to wean its economy off of oil, delegates to the annual event often use it to create ties with some of Saudi Arabia’s largest corporations and its $778 billion sovereign wealth fund. They are lured by the possibility of agreements as the country moves forward with its strategy.
However, the potential for the confrontation between Israel and the Islamist organization Hamas to escalate into a wider war has cast a shadow over the conference, which is currently in its eighth year and has been dubbed by delegates as “Davos in the Desert.” This is a reference to the yearly meeting of global leaders and business executives that takes place in the Swiss Alps.
In the past year, Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars on enterprises in various industries, ranging from sports and gaming to aviation. This year, Saudi Telecom Corporation acquired nearly ten percent of the Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica.
