Relax and invest, Saudi prince tells investors after corruption crackdown

Three months after Saudi Arabia detained scores of people in a crackdown on corruption, its rulers are trying to reassure investors that the kingdom remains open for business.

Foreign and local investors have long complained about corruption, and confronting it is an important part of reforms unveiled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to transform the country and reduce the economy’s reliance on oil exports.

Yet some business leaders were unsettled by the swoop on top princes, businessmen and government officials in November because of the secrecy around the crackdown and their suspicions that it was at least partly politically motivated.

“This is not a recommendation for why you should invest in Saudi Arabia,” said a Western businessman with extensive contacts in the kingdom. “This whole thing has become one big ball of contradictions.”

Saudi authorities are loathe to say they mishandled the anti-corruption campaign.

But top officials, including Prince Mohammed, met senior local businessmen last month to reassure them that the crackdown was mostly over and that it was safe to do business in current times, according to five Saudi and Western sources who spoke with people who attended the meetings. Most detainees have now been released.

 “It’s true we could make mistakes here and mistakes there. Saudi Arabia is not a perfect country. Saudi Arabia is like any other country. But the ... road to success is always under construction and the whole momentum of Saudi Arabia is going toward that end,” Minister of Commerce and Investment Majid bin Abdullah al-Qasabi told a Davos session.

Government spokesmen in Riyadh did not respond to requests for comment, but Attorney General Saud al-Mojeb has described the sweep as “an independent judicial process” and “part of an overhaul to ensure transparency, openness and good governance”.

The government has said that financial settlements made with the detainees in exchange for their freedom have raised more than $100 billion, mostly in the form of land, stakes in businesses and other illiquid assets rather than cash, reports Reuters from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

That should help raise tens of billions of dollars for huge development plans, such as a $500-billion economic zone in the northwestern desert.