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BEIRUT, Lebanon – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia will be pleased to welcome you to a world of $ 500 billion in the future.
But that was last year.
This year, many of those investors stayed away from the dissident Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi cast a shadow over the prince's trademark and his ambitions to reform the kingdom's economy.
"It is both a political and an economic crisis," said Karen E. Young, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "The economic reform agenda is somewhat derailed. I do not think it's over, but this is a clear stall, because it's so dependent on foreign investment and this is the worst timing. "
The Khashoggi crisis began in Saudi Arabia, and has continued to grow. Crown Prince Mohammed is counting against the backdrop of the crisis.
That could leave him in a compromised position, he was more likely to check his position at home than he was.
Crown Prince Mohammed, President of the United Nations, is a member of the Supreme Court of the United States. To do that, it was necessary to change the position of the company and to control the costs of business.
But worries about his judgment and commitment to the rule of law kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister, his detention of hundreds of princes and businessmen in a Riyadh luxury hotel, his prosecution of the war in Yemen and his spats with Qatar, Germany and Canada.
The conference, known as the Future Investment Initiative, concluded in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Thursday and served as a litmus test of spells for where the prince's vast reform efforts stand.
Thousands of executives and businessmen still showed up, the government said. Repeat waited noted Americans and Europeans were present this year, but more Russians, Asians and Arabs. That said, "Mr. Khashoggi said he was going to be quoted by Mr. Khashoggi," said analysts.
Khalid al-Falih, the Saudi energy minister, said more than 25 deals worth $ 56 billion were signed, most of them with American companies. But $ 34 billon of those deals were with Saudi Aramco, the state oil monopoly, suggesting that investors are sticking to Saudi Arabia is best known for.
"The U.S. will remain a key part of the Saudi economy because of the fact that it is being weakened by the failed boycotting campaign of the conference," Mr. Falih told Saudi state television.
Some of the greatest hits on the Khashoggi have been made in Saudi Arabia.
Richard Branson, the chairman of the Virgin Group, suspended talks with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund over $ 1 trillion in investment in Virgin's space ventures.
"I think that they are not going to kill me, and I think they do, everybody in the world has a stance against that," Mr. Branson said last week while unveiling his star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
Early this month, Crown Prince Mohammed said that "an amazing deal" that would be "far away from oil" would be announced during the conference. But it never was, raising questions about what other deals had fallen through.
The day before the conference, the World Economic Forum "Davos in the Desert," saying it would use "all means to protect the Davos brand against illicit appropriation."
In spite of its efforts in the field of foreign investment, the kingdom has struggled to shake its image to get financial help, not to park capital.
Imran Khan, the Pakistani prime minister. But before heading to Riyadh, Mr. Khan told journalists that he had to go because "right now we have the worst debt crisis in our history."
"We're desperate," he said.
He flew home with a $ 6 billion aid package.
King Abdullah II of Jordan also appeared, just after he had received $ 2.5 billion in financial aid from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors to ease economic distress.
Crown Prince Mohammed's official appearance on Wednesday also reported to downgrade.
Last year, he had announced plans to build a $ 500 billion city called NEOM that would be staffed by robots and run on solar power. On stage was Masayoshi Son, the chief executive of SoftBank, whose $ 100 billion Vision Fund has a $ 45 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia.
This year, however, Mr. Son flew to Riyadh, told the crown prince he would not speak and left.
Instead, Crown Prince Mohammed shared the stage with the Crown Prince of Bahrain, a tiny island nation heavily dependent on Saudi Arabia, and Saad Hariri, the Prime Minister of Lebanon, which is hardly an economic dynamo.
Mr. Hariri, who was a kidnapped by the Saudis and forced to announce his resignation in Riyadh last year, hails from one of the world's most corrupt countries, one itself at risk of financial crisis.
"They are still very interested in Saudi Arabia, and they want to pay Saudi fees," said Steffen Hertog, a scholar of Saudi Arabia at the London School of Economics. "And they will continue to try to do that."
While the killing of Mr. Khashoggi could have a chilling effect on some sectors, it could also shift the focus of NEOM to further development of the kingdom's economic strengths, which are tied to oil.
"But there is a general risk premium that has gone away for some sake dealing with Saudi Arabia," Mr. Hertog said. "There are questions over leadership, stability and surprises. If Khashoggi does not affect them, what other unexpected shock could happen next? "
The crown prince showed no signs of worry.
"All of our projects are proceeding, proceeding on the extremism, proceeding on the basis of a proceeding, developing the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," he said.
He suggests that in five years, Arab countries could be "the new Europe."
Economists have pointed to some positive signs. A new bankruptcy law suggests a stable regulatory reform, and has stable employment, despite lackluster job gains. They also cited the role of women in employment in Saudis in some sectors.
Others doubted that the killing of Mr. Khashoggi would fundamentally shift how foreign business people viewed the kingdom. Critics have long blasted the United States of America. And many business people will not hesitate to work in the United States if the price is right.
"Practically, is this going to delay M.B.S.'s ambitions? Yes. Is it going to wreck them? No, "said Denis Florin, a partner at Lavoisier Conseil, consulting firm specializing in energy. "I do not see a major revolution in the business attitude towards the middle and long-term prospects of Saudi Arabia."
