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Saudi Arabia Contributes More than $87 Billion in International Aid to Combat Poverty

Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning during his speech at the 2023 SDG Summit (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning during his speech at the 2023 SDG Summit (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Contributes More than $87 Billion in International Aid to Combat Poverty

Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning during his speech at the 2023 SDG Summit (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning during his speech at the 2023 SDG Summit (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal bin Fadel Al-Ibrahim has announced that Saudi Vision 2030 was highly consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), revealing that the Kingdom contributed more than $87 billion in international aid to combat poverty and advance development.

The minister was speaking during his participation in the 2023 SDG Summit, in New York.

This year’s SDG Summit is the second since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015, and aims to accelerate progress towards achieving the 17 sustainable development goals within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Al-Ibrahim stressed that Saudi Arabia has become an international investment power, and plays an important role in mobilizing resources to achieve sustainable growth.

Highlighting the recently launched Global Water Organization, the minister said: “It is a monumental step that champions international innovation and it is a call to action for nations worldwide to come together.”

In this context, the minister said that the Kingdom has contributed more than $87 billion in international aid to combat poverty and advance development.

He added that the National Transformation Program, one of the Vision 2030 initiatives, led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was strongly consistent with the UN goals of sustainable development.

Leaders of the UN member-states, as well as ministers, and representatives of international organizations, the private sector and civil society participated in the summit, which is chaired by the President of the United Nations General Assembly.

Meanwhile, Al-Ibrahim met with the Swedish Minister of International Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Johan Forssell, with whom he discussed bilateral economic and investment relations, and a number of issues of common interest, including the need to intensify international cooperation to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.