Saudi Arabia supports promotion of investment in sustainable infrastructure

Saudi Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi attending on virtual meeting on sustainable infrastructure on Saturday. (SPA)
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Updated 30 January 2021
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Saudi Arabia supports promotion of investment in sustainable infrastructure

  • Saudi ambassador to the UN in New York says country has long supported public and private sectors partnerships to this end

NEW YORK: Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UN in New York, said the Kingdom has a long record of supporting public and private sectors partnerships to boost investment in sustainable infrastructure.

Al-Mouallimi was speaking at a virtual meeting to discuss the proposal of the president of the UN Economic and Social Council regarding investment in sustainable infrastructure.

Al-Mouallimi said that the Kingdom welcomes any initiative by the UN to promote private investment in infrastructure, including partnerships between the public and private sectors, and supporting infrastructure projects eligible for financing.

He noted that the structure of proposed tasks and ways of setting them should include the evaluation of the mechanisms to set the current projects while stressing their objectives, resources and progress, and learning lessons from past experiences while determining factors of success, reasons for weak performance, and flaws in the mechanisms to set the projects which were not previously resolved in a proper way.

Al-Mouallimi said: “In order to facilitate promoting investments in infrastructure and attract main investors, it is essential to elaborate a clear vision on how to benefit from the work undertaken by multilateral development banks in attracting investment. In addition, efforts should be organized to determine flaws and ways of improving the performance to strengthen the tendency towards endorsing sustainable investment in infrastructure.”


Saudi Arabia, UAE and allies condemn Gaza ceasefire violations

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Saudi Arabia, UAE and allies condemn Gaza ceasefire violations

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday led renewed regional condemnation of Israel’s repeated violations of the ceasefire in Gaza, which have resulted in the killing and wounding of more than 1,000 Palestinians.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the Kingdom, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkiye said the breaches represented a dangerous escalation that risked inflaming tensions and undermining efforts to restore calm and stability, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

They joined Qatar, Jordan and Egypt, who on Saturday condemned what they described as ongoing ceasefire violations and warned they threatened de-escalation efforts and regional stability.

The ministers said the latest developments come at a critical moment, as regional and international efforts intensify to advance the second phase of the peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump and implement UN Security Council Resolution 2803, SPA added.

They warned that the repeated violations pose a direct threat to the political process and could derail attempts to create the conditions for a more stable phase in Gaza, both in security and humanitarian terms. They stressed the need for full adherence to the ceasefire to ensure the success of the next phase of the peace plan.

The statement called on all parties to assume their responsibilities during this sensitive period, exercise maximum restraint, sustain the ceasefire, and avoid any actions that could undermine current diplomatic efforts. It also urged steps to facilitate early recovery and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.

Reaffirming their commitment to a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, the ministers said this must be based on the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state, in line with international law, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.