Saudi Arabia plans to move ahead with a major investment conference in Riyadh despite Houthi attacks on the kingdom, offering on-site and virtual attendance as well as alternative air and land travel routes, diplomatic sources told AFP.
Riyadh usually hosts a packed calendar of events, but it has recently seen escalating military tensions with the Iran-backed Yemeni group, which has intensified attacks on the kingdom’s airports and oil facilities.
Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative Institute hosts an annual forum dubbed “Davos in the desert,” which usually draws foreign leaders and business titans, and this year it is scheduled to be held in Riyadh from Oct. 26 to 29.
In order to prevent cancellation, organizers reached out to embassies and foreign companies to explore “hybrid” participation options, allowing officials and business executives to attend either in person or virtually, diplomatic sources said.
They have even discussed arrangements for participants to fly by private jet to Dhahran airport in eastern Saudi Arabia before traveling by road to Riyadh.
A diplomat from an Asian country said “they contacted us and offered that attendees travel to Manama or Doha,” referring to the capitals of Bahrain and Qatar respectively, and then drive by land to the Saudi capital.
Riyadh’s international airport, a main target for Houthi attacks, suspended operations last week after 13 were killed in a strike there, with no clear timeline for when air traffic would reopen.
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