NAGOYA: Saudi Arabia took over the G20 presidency for next year at a meeting of the group’s foreign ministers, which was held on Saturday in Nagoya, Japan.
The Saudi delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who thanked Japan for leading and ensuring the success of the G20’s work in 2019, and welcomed the Kingdom taking on the presidency for 2020.
He said Saudi Arabia has prepared a comprehensive and ambitious program under the directives of King Salman and the direct supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In his speech at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, in June, the crown prince outlined the program of the Kingdom’s presidency.
It addresses the most pressing issues and challenges facing economic sectors in the future, and formulates policies and initiatives to address those challenges, in cooperation with G20 countries, for the benefit of all their peoples.
King Salman also hailed the Kingdom’s G20 presidency as proof of its key role in the global economy.
The Kingdom will launch its G20 presidency on Dec. 1 with a detailed declaration of its program, which seeks to support innovation, achieve prosperity, empower people and preserve the planet, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
G20 counterparts
Prince Faisal met separately with the EU’s foreign policy chief, the foreign ministers of the Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand and Argentina, and the UK’s minister for Commonwealth, UN and South Asian affairs.
During the meetings, they discussed issues of mutual interest, and ways to enhance cooperation and develop bilateral relations.
Bilateral ties
Japan — which headed the G20 this year — was the Kingdom’s second-largest export market last year, at $33 billion, according to IMF trade data.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu told Prince Faisal he was pleased to meet him for the first time and both sides wanted to boost relations, according to a read-out from Japan’s Foreign Ministry.
Motegi praised Saudi work to stabilize southern Yemen, where Riyadh orchestrated a deal to end a power struggle between Yemen’s government, which it backs, and southern separatists.
