Baku. 15 October. REPORT.AZ/ Businessmen and media outlets refuse to participate in a major economic forum in Saudi Arabia, known as "Davos in the Desert", Report informs citing Interfax.
According to J.P.Morgan's press service, the bank’s chief executive officer Jamie Dimon will not attend the event in Riyadh next week. Hours before that Ford's chairman of the board of directors Bill Ford, also announced that he would not take part in it.
In addition, CNBC, Financial Times, CNN and The New York Times withdrew their representatives from "Davos in the Desert".
However, the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reported that they were still planning to take part in the event.
According to media reports, the refusal to participate in the forum is connected with the exacerbation of tension between Riyadh and Washington after the disappearance of the opposition Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who worked for The Washington Post. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Earlier it became known that the moment of the murder and the interrogation of the missing Jamal Khashoggi was recorded by his Apple Watch.
Notably, the Future Investment Initiative forum will be held on October 23-25 in Riyadh. As of the end of September, over 100 business leaders have confirmed their participation in the event this year.