Organisers insist the Future Investment Initiative (FII) will open in Riyadh on October 26. After a week of Houthi attacks on the capital's airport, few expect it to.
Princess Dr. Maha bint Mishari bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Chief Executive Officer of FII Institute © FII
Organisers insist the Future Investment Initiative (FII) will open in Riyadh on October 26. After a week of Houthi attacks on the capital's airport, few expect it to.
The 10th edition is due to run for four days at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center. The event's website says the dates are confirmed. But hundreds of participants have already pulled out, and the security situation has deteriorated sharply in recent days.
The Houthis, backed by Iran, have repeatedly targeted King Khalid International Airport in recent days. Lufthansa Group airlines, Etihad and flydubai were among the carriers that suspended or cancelled services. Britain, France and Germany have told their citizens to avoid Riyadh.
The Houthis have also warned aircraft to keep out of Saudi airspace, except over Mecca and Medina. A Saudi-led coalition says it has destroyed Houthi missile launch platforms, but the security situation remains difficult.
What is the FII Institute?
The conference is run by the FII Institute, a global non-profit with an investment arm. It was established in 2019 by royal decree, and Saudi Arabia's sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) is its founding partner. The Future Investment Initiative itself dates from 2017, when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched it in Riyadh. Its stated mission is to bring together leaders and innovators to turn ideas into action.
Beyond the flagship Riyadh conference, the Institute organises regional and thematic events, including its first regional summit, in London in 2022.
The 2025 edition, FII9, was held on October 27-30 at the same venue. It featured more than 600 speakers and 20 heads of state. Past editions have been used to announce major deals, among them a PIF–Google Cloud AI initiative and an aircraft order from Riyadh Air.
By Talal Al Ghanim
Houthi militants who control northwestern Yemen have in the past week attacked Riyadh international airport and hit the headquarters of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, in air assaults that have laid bare Saudi Arabia's vulnerability to threats from its enemy next door.
The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Thursday that the country's Houthis had attempted to attack dozens of Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities, as fighting between the Iran-aligned group and Saudi Arabia intensified.
The European Union and Gulf states on Thursday postponed a joint summit due to be held in Saudi Arabia next week, as sustained attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis fuel concerns about air travel to and from the kingdom.
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