JEDDAH, 20 December 2006 — Another major conference was canceled in Saudi Arabia. The conference has been rescheduled to take place in Amman instead, in order to avoid having to confront the hurdles in the Kingdom related to obtaining visas and licenses for conferences in a timely manner.

The fourth Islamic Real Estate Finance-Middle East (IREF-ME) was scheduled to take place in Jeddah last week but was canceled by the organizers, a UK-based events manager, because they allege that their host, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), did not fulfill its responsibility. A JCCI spokesman contacted by Arab News blamed the UK organizers.

The IREF-ME conference is now rescheduled under the banner IREF-Jordan 2007 and will be held in Amman on Feb. 14-15. The Excellence in Real Estate awards, which was initially going to take place in Jeddah last week, will now take place Dec. 21 in Dubai.

ICG, a UK-based PR coordinator, said on its website that the IREF-ME was canceled because of “our hosts, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, not fulfilling their mutually agreed responsibilities.”

A letter from ICG obtained by Arab News dated Dec. 12 also blames “instability and infighting within the chamber” and alludes to the sacking of JCCI Secretary General Mohammed Al-Sharif, as part of the problem.

The ICG said that the JCCI did not provide any assistance, including obtaining fast-track visas for event participants, as they had promised. The firm also says that the JCCI failed to obtain a license to hold the event. The company canceled the event before participants made travel arrangements.

According to the letter, the cancellation decision was influenced in part by the circumstances that caused another conference to be canceled a month ago in Riyadh. IIR Middle East for Conferences, Exhibitions and Training, the organizers of that conference about initial public offerings in the Kingdom, cancelled their event because proper licensing was not obtained in time.