RIYADH, 20 November 2006 — It could not have been more embarrassing. As 400 foreign investors and businessmen from GCC countries, the US as well as Asia and Europe arrived to attend the Saudi IPO Summit 2006, they were refused entry to the venue. What they were told was: “Entry is prohibited. Permission has not been granted by the ministry.”

According to the organizers — Shamal Marketing Communications (SMC) — not only was yesterday’s workshop canceled but the conference will not now take place. “We were told by the ministry not to have the workshop today so we are not having it,” said David N. Stuckey, executive director of In-House Training for IIR Middle East. The Dubai based-IIR Middle East for Conferences, Exhibitions and Training, had planned a two-day summit at the Faisaliah Hotel. The summit was to begin with a workshop yesterday before its official opening today.

“We reluctantly had to cancel yesterday’s and Monday’s events due to unforeseen circumstances,” said Jehad Kamal from SMC. He said he had no details concerning when, or if, the conference would take place.

Officials at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry were unavailable for comment. A source at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a co-organizer of the conference, said that it had been canceled because the organizers had not received permission from the ministry.

“We are still waiting for permission from the ministry,” said the anonymous official, adding, “The conference will either take place Monday or be postponed to a later date.”

Many of the participants said that even if the summit took place later, they probably would not come due to the difficulties and delays in getting Saudi visas.

In an earlier statement, Deep Marwaha, conference manager for Saudi IPO Summit had stated that investment experts, regulators and market leaders would focus on regulatory and industry standards, corporate governance and transparency, reporting standards and internal audit in order to restore investor confidence and stabilize the markets.

Among the speakers scheduled for the summit were Dr. Fawaz Al Alamy, deputy minister of commerce and industry, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil, chairman, Zamil Group, Yassir Rumayyan, head of listing, Capital Market Authority, Ioannis Karapatakis, managing director, Global Investment Banking Advisory, HSBC, Omar M. El Quqa, executive vice president, corporate finance & treasury, Global Investment House, Brad Bourland, chief economist, Samba Financial Group and Graham Dallas, head of business development, London Stock Exchange. The plan was for the summit to examine the role IPOs could play in broadening the total number of stocks available and improving investor confidence. It was also to provide essential information to private companies seeking to go public. The conference was expected to address the costs associated with IPOs and the long-term obligations of public companies as well as the critical factors underpinning oversubscriptions, over-pricing and macro-economic issues affecting IPOs.

A.J. Gupta, a German businessman who came to the Kingdom to attend the summit, said that the cancellation of such an important meeting would leave a very negative image of the Kingdom. Yoong Nim Chee, director of corporate affairs of MMC Corporation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia said: “We came all the way from Malaysia and we are disappointed.”

— With input from Raid Qusti