Saudi Arabia's 'Davos in the Desert' event postponed to January

Saudi Arabia has delayed its annual Future Investment Initiative conference, which in the past has hosted corporate titans including Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink, because of the coronavirus.

The event, hosted by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund and dubbed Davos in the Desert by participants due to the presence of world leaders and captains of industry, was scheduled for October, according to the website for the conference. It will now be held on January 26-28, Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative Institute said in a statement.

The conference has been delayed “after careful consideration and assessment of the global travel and airline outlook, as well as the regulations imposed by a significant number of countries”, it said.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, whose countries are key emerging markets, were among the key speakers at last year's event.