Referring to the unwillingness of a Saudi investment conference called "Davos in the desert" to be held at the end of this month, the gathering will become a "political platform", and according to the director of the organizer, no invitations will be extended to US government officials to attend

The decision not to invite US officials, unlike in previous years, comes as tension between partners Washington and Riyadh has escalated over the recent decision of the Saudi-led OPEC plus to cut oil production by up to two million barrels per day starting in November.

Richard Attias, CEO of the non-profit organization of the"Future Investment Initiative", said that up to 400 CEOs of American companies are expected to participate in this year's edition.

The initiative, a three-day conference scheduled to start on October 25 in Riyadh, usually attracts "Wall Street" giants and high-ranking officials from around the world.

Steven Mnuchin , who served as treasury secretary under former US President Donald Trump, addressed the conference in its first edition in 2017, and last year's edition was attended by Don Graves, deputy secretary of Commerce under current US President Joe Biden. Asked about representing the United States this year, Attias said, "We have not invited any American government official".

"We don't invite a lot of politicians ... Because I realized that when you have political leaders on the platform, the media attention, let's be very frank, is shifted to the political agenda, and we don't want the Future Investment Initiative to become a political platform,"he said.

Attias said earlier at a press conference that "more than 12 ministers of economy and finance" would attend this year's edition.

He also left the door open to the possibility of heads of state attending, saying "we will know in a few days who the heads of state are 100% sure to attend".

The Future Investment Initiative Institute, headed by Attias, is not officially linked to the Saudi government, but the annual conference in Riyadh is closely linked to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler.

Attias said he did not expect the dispute between Riyadh and Washington to affect the conference this year.

"There is no impact at all , on the contrary, we are seeing more turnout from the private sector in the United States to attend the Future Investment Initiative," Attias said, adding that the organizers "began to reject some applications for participation" due to the lack of vacancies of places.

"We have never practiced politics since our inception in 2017, but if people want to talk about geopolitical affairs during the debate, they are free to do so," he added.