RIYADH: Russian president Vladimir Putin stressed that it was highly important for Russia to maintain a constant dialogue with Saudi Arabia.
“We attach great significance to expanding multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation with Saudi Arabia. This also applies to our bilateral relations, bearing in mind that we are the largest oil-producing countries. This also applies to international issues. We believe that without Saudi Arabia, no serious issue in the region, can be solved,” Putin said at the meeting in China with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday.
Prince Mohammed, who led the Saudi delegation to the G20 summit, which concluded in Hangzhou on Monday, thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for the warm welcome and hospitality. Conveying the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to Jinping, he said: “I would like to commend the positive results reached during the summit, stressing the importance of decisions issued by the summit, hoping that they contribute significantly to supporting the solidarity among the countries of the group and enhancing global economic growth rates.
The deputy crown prince on Monday held talks with Brazil President Michel Temer, Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, French President Francois Hollande, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Booklets containing speeches of King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif and the deputy crown prince on the occasion of the launch of the Saudi Vision 2030 were distributed to the participants in the summit. The booklets, on CDs and memory sticks, were available in Arabic, English, Japanese and Chinese.
The informative material was well received by the participants, who showed interest in the Kingdom’s political, cultural and economic aspects.
Minister of Commerce and Investment Majid Al-Qassabi lauded the fruitful results of the visits paid by the deputy crown prince to China and Japan, highlighting that they help achieve strategic partnerships and cooperation in various sectors.
Al-Qassabi said these historic visits are a continuation of successful visits paid by the Saudi leadership, which were instrumental in attracting global attention, and opening broad prospects for attracting investment and increasing the volume of trade.
He added that the deputy crown prince’s visits to Beijing and Tokyo resulted in a number of MoUs and joint economic and trade programs that will increase investments and non-oil revenues.
The summit put the issue of development front and center of the global macro policy framework for the first time.
It is also the first time that the G20 has an action plan for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and cooperates to support the industrialization of African countries and least developed countries.
