RIYADH: Finance officials from the world’s 20 biggest economies (G20) meeting in Riyadh on Sunday reached agreement on the wording of a final communique that includes a reference to climate change for the first time, G20 diplomatic sources said.
Overcoming US objections, the compromise language retained a reference to work by the Financial Stability Board to examine the implications of climate change on financial stability, although it dropped climate change from its list of downside risks to global economic growth.
One of the sources said it was the first time a reference to climate change had been included in a G20 finance communique, even though it was removed from the top of the joint statement.
G20 finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in the Saudi capital to discuss top global economic challenges, including the spread of the new coronavirus.
G20 officials completed work on the communique on Sunday morning. The final wording was not immediately available.
Delegates worked out a compromise after Washington objected to the initial proposed language, which had included “macroeconomic risk related to environmental stability” in a list of downside risks, two G20 diplomatic sources said.
The communique forecasts a modest pick-up in global growth this year and next, but cites downside risks to this outlook stemming from geopolitical and remaining trade tensions and policy uncertainty.
G20 agrees final communique with reference to climate change
https://arab.news/8yapt
G20 agrees final communique with reference to climate change
- One of the sources said it was the first time a reference to climate change had been included in a G20 finance communique
- G20 officials completed work on the communique on Sunday morning
Saudi ambassador becomes first foreign envoy to meet Bangladesh’s new PM
- Tarique Rahman took oath as PM last week after landslide election win
- Ambassador Abdullah bin Abiyah also meets Bangladesh’s new FM
Dhaka: Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Dhaka became on Sunday the first foreign envoy to meet Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister Tarique Rahman since he assumed the country’s top office.
Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party made a landslide win in the Feb. 12 election, securing an absolute majority with 209 seats in the 300-seat parliament.
The son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, he was sworn in as the prime minister last week.
The Saudi government congratulated Rahman on the day he took the oath of office, and the Kingdom’s Ambassador Abdullah bin Abiyah was received by the premier in the Bangladesh Secretariat, where he also met Bangladesh’s new foreign minister.
“Among the ambassadors stationed in Dhaka, this is the first ambassadorial visit with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman since he assumed office,” Saleh Shibli, the prime minister’s press secretary, told Arab News.
“The ambassador conveyed greetings and best wishes to Bangladesh’s prime minister from the king and crown prince of Saudi Arabia … They discussed bilateral matters and ways to strengthen the ties among Muslim countries.”
Rahman’s administration succeeded an interim government that oversaw preparations for the next election following the 2024 student-led uprising, which toppled former leader Sheikh Hasina and ended her Awami League party’s 15-year rule.
New Cabinet members were sworn in during the same ceremony as the prime minister last week.
Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman is a former UN official who served as Bangladesh’s national security adviser during the interim government’s term.
He received Saudi Arabia’s ambassador after the envoy’s meeting with the prime minister.
“The foreign minister expressed appreciation for the Saudi leadership’s role in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East and across the Muslim Ummah. He also conveyed gratitude for hosting a large number of Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom and underscored the significant potential for expanding cooperation across trade, investment, energy, and other priority sectors, leveraging the geostrategic positions of both countries,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The Saudi ambassador expressed his support to the present government and his intention to work with the government to enhance the current bilateral relationship to a comprehensive relationship.”
Around 3.5 million Bangladeshis live and work in Saudi Arabia. They have been joining the Saudi labor market since 1976, when work migration to the Kingdom was established during the rule of the new prime minister’s father.
Bangladeshis are the largest expat group in the Kingdom and the largest Bangladeshi community outside Bangladesh and send home more than $5 billion in remittances every year.
