Why Is the Postponement of the Davos of the Desert Conference Considered a Major Setback for the Saudi Economic Transformation Plan

In October 2017, the Saudi Investment Fund launched the Future Investment Initiative as an annual event in which the trends of the (2030) vision launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman crystallize, which aims to transform the Kingdom from merely an oil producer into a destination for foreign investments in all fields. At the , the Saudi Prince announced what was supposed to be the most important and largest of the vision’s projects and investments, which is (NEOM).. the city in which he promised that the number of robots in it would be more than the number of humans, and in which the means of transportation would be self-driving cars and drones, and it would even be the city of “coexistence with the world and the elimination of extremism.”
Dherar Al-Tayeb — Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:
Since that time, the Saudi Investment Fund has pumped huge amounts to accomplish the (NEOM) project, and nine editions of the Investment Initiative conference have been held, which later acquired the name (Davos of the Desert) to express its importance that emulates the importance of the World Economic Forum held annually in the Swiss city of Davos, and attended by many of the world’s top leaders, officials, heads of giant companies and institutions, and wealth funds, to explore and discuss investment opportunities and conclude huge deals.
It is said that of the Saudi conference attracted more than 9,000 delegates from 90 countries, and witnessed the signing of agreements and investment pledges worth more than 50 billion dollars in several sectors that included artificial intelligence, advanced technology, and clean energy.
Even after it became clear (belatedly) that the giant projects of the (2030) vision, including (NEOM),were simply “unrealistic” and drained huge amounts of money without result, the dream of economic transformation was still pursuable, and only