by Xinhua writer Tu Yifan
RIYADH, Nov 18 (NNN-XINHUA) – Fahad Almubarak, Saudi Arabia’s minister of state and sherpa of Saudi G20, said, the kingdom is able to execute the full agenda, as the G20 presidency, amid COVID-19.
“We are honoured to hold the G20 presidency for this year. We had a very busy year and held over 100 meetings of deputies and ministers,” Almubarak told a media briefing in the capital, Riyadh, ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, which will be held virtually on Nov 21 and 22, and chaired by Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The G20 brings together some of the largest economies, which account for about 85 percent of global GDP, to discuss the most challenging socioeconomic global issues. Saudi Arabia, the only Arab member of the group, assumed the presidency in Dec, 2019.
With exceptional challenges, posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Saudi G20 presidency, hosted a historic Extraordinary Virtual Leaders’ Summit, on COVID-19, on Mar 26, followed by a series of ministerial meetings to tackle the COVID-19 crisis and mitigate its impacts.
This extraordinary Summit resulted in swift and unprecedented actions to protect lives, livelihoods and the most vulnerable, including an injection of a total of 11 trillion U.S. dollars into the global economy, according to a G20 statement.
The statement also highlighted the 21 billion dollars spent, at the outset of the crisis, in supporting health systems and the hunt for a vaccine, and the 14 billion dollars in debt relief, for the world’s most vulnerable nations, in a move to ensure their ability to focus all resources available on fighting the pandemic.
The upcoming G20 Leaders’ Summit will set the foundations for a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
“2020 is an exceptional year. COVID-19 has taken the world off guard, and the whole world’s economy went into a real pause,” said Majid Al Qasabi, Saudi minister of commerce, and acting minister of media.
Under the theme of “Realising Opportunities of the 21st Century for All,” this year’s G20 Leaders’ Summit seeks to “deepen global cooperation,” a separate G20 statement said.
According to the statement, the upcoming Summit will focus on three major topics: Empowering people by creating conditions in which all, especially women and youth, can live, work and thrive; Safeguarding the planet by fostering collective efforts to protect natural resources; Shaping new frontiers by adopting long-term and bold strategies to share the benefits of innovation and technological advancement.– NNN-XINHUA