Consider the following excerpts:
Excerpt 1:
Saudi Arabia is ramping up efforts to lure international companies and revive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans for an economic makeover after foreign investment fell to a 14-year-low in 2017.
The moves include plans to create two investment funds totalling over $18 billion for the government to enter into ventures with foreign companies, said people familiar with the matter. The kingdom is also pouring billions into entertainment-industry partnerships and working with SoftBank Group's Vision Fund to bring technology firms to Saudi Arabia.
The first modern Saudi bankruptcy law is due to soon come into effect. The government has also drawn up a law on public-private partnerships, the first step toward the sale of billions of dollars in state-owned assets that the government hopes will attract foreign investment in big infrastructure projects.
Prince Mohammed is trying to shift the economy away from oil and toward industries that provide growth and jobs for Saudis. The first steps toward economic reform included cutting subsidies and adding taxes to narrow the budget deficit.
He has introduced social reforms such as allowing women to drive and opening cinemas. He has also forged an alliance with the Trump administration and shifted the kingdom into a more firm posture against Iran. But some of his economic plans have so far stalled.
The Saudi economy contracted last year, largely as a result of lower oil prices, and only emerged from recession in the first quarter of this year. The prospect of years of low oil prices helped spark Prince Mohammed's calls for economic reform, though prices have rallied in recent months.
Also worrying some investors was the detention of Saudi business leaders last fall in what the kingdom said was an anticorruption crackdown. The charges weren't aired publicly and some businessmen remain jailed; the government has moved to collect over
Saudi officials have said the crackdown should assure investors that the kingdom is serious about securing a stable rule of law, and the crown prince sought to win more American business on a nearly three-week visit to the U.S. this spring.
Excerpt 2:
Saudi Arabia's premier business conference opened as scheduled Tuesday, missing the star power of Western executives who cancelled over a Saudi journalist's death but packing a surprise: an unexpected visit from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The event, the Future Investment Initiative, once again served as a forum for promoting Saudi investment and Prince Mohammed's modernization plans. But the gathering was stripped down from last year's inaugural session as the kingdom wrestled with corporate and diplomatic fallout in the wake of allegations that the Saudi government was involved in Jamal Khashoggi's Oct. 2 death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
"Everybody is talking about it," said Henry Fernandez, chief executive of MSCI Inc., a U.S.-based markets-index compiler, speaking of Mr. Khashoggi's death. Despite that, he said the conference remained focused on engagement [with Saudi Arabia], not divestment...
The reaction to Mr. Khashoggi's death threatens to derail Prince Mohammed's plan to re-engineer the kingdom's economy to make it less reliant on oil income. The event is the prince's most visible effort to attract international investments by presenting the country as a business-friendly place that embraces new technologies
The event drew more than 3,000 investors, business leaders and advisers, according to the event app, but attendees also estimated hundreds had withdrawn. Many Western dropouts were replaced by representatives from Russia, Asia and the Arab world.
Among those who remained, French oil giant Total SA's CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, showed up alongside regional investment bank heads. Lucid Motors Inc., a California-based electric vehicle maker in which Saudi Arabia has committed to invest $1 billion, showcased the only prototype of its planned first car in the hotel's lobby.
Shahid Kazi, chief executive of Dubai-based consultancy ValuStrat, said Western executives who cancelled may have put a dampener [on the event] and may have disappointed people. But I wouldn't say it [the event] isn't useful. The Saudis are all here. That's who we really want to meet.
Still, there were signs that the gathering was off to an inauspicious start.
Last year, Western attendees arriving here were whisked to a luxurious airport lounge serving Arab coffee and dates. On Monday night, they lined up for passport control like everyone else.
The conference's website appeared to be hacked and was unavailable for hours Monday. Meantime, the World Economic Forum, which runs the eponymous event in the Swiss resort of Davos each year, formally objected to the gathering's nickname, Davos in the Desert.
Investors have divested more than $720 million from the Saudi stock market since Mr. Khashoggi's disappearance. The stock market, known as the Tadawul, is down about 4% since then.
What motives might drive technology and entertainment companies to invest in Saudi Arabia?
What are the risks associated with FDI in Saudi Arabia?
Why is the Saudi government so active (reform, conferences, risk-sharing) in bringing FDI back to Saudi Arabia?
