RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has postponed its flagship Future Investment Initiative until 2027, a week before the conference was due to open in Riyadh, after a wave of Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom left foreign executives wary of making the trip.

The FII Institute said on Monday that the 10th edition of the event, scheduled for October 26 to 29, would now be held next year. "We will announce the new 2027 dates very soon," the organisers said.

The gathering, known as "Davos in the Desert", is the kingdom's main showcase for global investors and a centrepiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan to cut the economy's reliance on oil. Its delay carries the conflict with Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis into the heart of Riyadh's search for foreign money.

The institute's announcement did not mention the attacks. "This decision comes from a deep commitment to our partners, members, speakers, and delegates," it said, adding that it wanted the landmark edition to deliver "the full scale, extraordinary quality, and unforgettable impact that our community has come to expect." The National and Business Insider attributed the remarks to the institute's chief executive, Princess Maha bint Mishari Al Saud.

The programme featured several of Wall Street's best-known bosses. CNBC listed JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs' David Solomon, Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock's Larry Fink and Citigroup's Jane Fraser among the speakers, and Al Jazeera said Alphabet's Ruth Porat was also expected.

Wall Street had been pushing for a change. Large banks and private equity firms privately relayed safety concerns to organisers, including Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund, Semafor reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters reported last week that organisers had considered a hybrid format allowing executives to take part remotely.

Semafor also reported that rooms at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton, normally blocked off for the event, had opened to public booking during the previous day. CNBC was told that some participants had planned to fly to Bahrain and drive about five hours to the Saudi capital.

The decision reverses the organisers' stance earlier this month. On October 10, after missile strikes on Riyadh's airport earlier that week, they said the event would go ahead and promised security at the city's airports, conference venues and official hotels. "Safety and well-being remain our highest priority," Princess Maha said at the time, according to Reuters.

The Houthis attacked King Khalid International Airport on October 10, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 300, CNBC reported. At least 18 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia this month, according to Reuters, with targets including the airport and the headquarters of the state oil company Aramco.

On Monday the group claimed fresh attacks on the Riyadh airport, on Abha airport near the Yemeni border, on Aramco facilities in the Red Sea port of Yanbu, on the Shaybah oilfield and on Saudi naval forces. Saudi forces brought down drones aimed at the Riyadh area on Friday and Saturday and stopped missiles over the Red Sea, a military spokesperson said, according to CNBC.

Daily life in the capital has been disrupted. Government agencies in Riyadh have told staff to work from home, AFP reported, with one agency's message setting remote work from Monday to Thursday this week. Staff at the Kingdom Centre, the downtown tower that is home to the International Monetary Fund's regional office, have been asked not to come in until further notice, and firms in the King Abdullah Financial District have done the same, Al Jazeera said.

The United States and most Western governments advise against all but essential travel to Saudi Arabia, guidance that shapes travel insurance and the advice of corporate security teams, Semafor noted. Britain, France and Germany had already warned their citizens to avoid Riyadh, Reuters reported earlier this month.

The wider war has upended the Gulf events calendar. Earlier in the year, when the UAE and Qatar took the heaviest fire in the US-Israeli war with Iran, several conferences there were scrapped, delayed or redesigned, Reuters reported. In April, Messe Frankfurt moved its Automechanika Riyadh trade fair from May to January 2027 because of that war, Arab News reported.

The Public Investment Fund launched the conference in 2017, and the crown prince used its first edition to unveil the NEOM megaproject, CNBC noted. The event went ahead in 2018 even after Fink, Schwarzman and dozens of other executives withdrew over the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Its 2020 edition was moved from October to late January because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Other Riyadh events have also been rescheduled. Messe Frankfurt Saudi Arabia said Intersec Saudi Arabia, a security and fire protection trade show that had been set for November 16 to 18, will return to the city in October 2027. The organiser cited close monitoring of developments in the kingdom and the safety of exhibitors, visitors and staff.

Semafor reported that an exhibition tennis tournament and Riyadh Fashion Week had been pushed back, and The National, citing Reuters, said a summit between Saudi Arabia and the European Union had been postponed.

The Saudi Retail Forum, which was due to meet at the voco Riyadh hotel on November 19, will now be held in March 2027, its organisers said.