Puzzling, sad news out of Saudi Arabia.

I was invited to speak at last year's Jeddah Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia. I enjoyed the experience immensely, learned an enormous amount and felt a certain optimism about the future of that country, having met many engaging and charming people in Jeddah. Alas, the Forum has been cancelled for this year with no suggestion that it will be held again. The two leading figures in the sponsoring organizations have been fired. Read more here and here.

The stated reason — embarrassing in its circularity — is that "permits were not obtained." 

A report in the Saudi Gazette says further that 

Last year’s JEF was poorly organized, several businessmen and attendees have said. Unlike in the past when internationally renowned vendors and consultants had helped organize the event at the Jeddah Hilton, last year’s JEF was held at the Jeddah Exhibition Center with most of the organizing work outsourced locally to companies and individuals with little experience in event management on such a grand scale. As a result, JCCI sources said, JEF 2008, was a flop both in grandeur and financially.

Of course, I have no idea if the event was a financial failure. Events such as JEF are almost always loss-leaders and held for reasons other than profit such as national prestige and to further other societal goals.

But I can say that from my observation as an invited (and paid) speaker, I thought that the JEF put on a very good event. It was engaging and lively and there was intense conversation. Certainly the speakers from the non-Arab world were (myself excluded) justifiably world-renowned individuals: Ex-Fed Chair Alan Greenspan, Sir Richard Branson, Nobel Prize winners Mohammed Unis and Eric Maskin, and others. (My own talk, btw, is posted  at Jeddah Economic Forum— Speakers.) The Arab News offers the more portentous and very somber words that this year's JEF was cancelled because of  "failure to operate within the established organizational framework set by the government after the sixth JEF."

I will be following this story and FWIW will write letters of protest to Saudi authorities.