Saudi Arabia Affirms its Leadership, Pivotal Role in Promoting Joint Action

The Cabinet reaffirmed the Kingdom's ongoing efforts to facilitate dialogue and convergence of views between the conflicting parties, with the ultimate goal of resolving the crisis through political dialogue - SPA
The Cabinet reaffirmed the Kingdom's ongoing efforts to facilitate dialogue and convergence of views between the conflicting parties, with the ultimate goal of resolving the crisis through political dialogue - SPA
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Saudi Arabia Affirms its Leadership, Pivotal Role in Promoting Joint Action

The Cabinet reaffirmed the Kingdom's ongoing efforts to facilitate dialogue and convergence of views between the conflicting parties, with the ultimate goal of resolving the crisis through political dialogue - SPA
The Cabinet reaffirmed the Kingdom's ongoing efforts to facilitate dialogue and convergence of views between the conflicting parties, with the ultimate goal of resolving the crisis through political dialogue - SPA

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Kingdom's Cabinet session held on Wednesday at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah.

The Cabinet reviewed the recent regional and international meetings held by the Kingdom, emanating from its leadership and pivotal role in promoting joint work that contributes to the consolidation of international peace and security, development, progress and prosperity of all countries.

In this regard, the Cabinet highlighted the outcome of the ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition against ISIS , held in Riyadh, regarding mechanisms and procedures aimed at enhancing cooperation and coordinating efforts in this area, including the Kingdom joining the presidency of Africa Focus Group and the establishment of a focus group to combat ISIS in the Khorasan Province in Afghanistan.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Minister of Media Salman bin Yousef Al-Dosari said that the Cabinet also discussed the outcome of the GCC-US ministerial meeting, held in Riyadh, focusing on aspects of strategic partnerships between the two sides with the aim of promoting peace, security, stability and economic prosperity in the Middle East.

The Cabinet reaffirmed the keenness of the Kingdom, expressed at the second ministerial meeting of members of the League of Arab States and Pacific Small Island Developing States, to address common and most pressing global challenges, including food security, supply chains, climate change and sustainable development.

The Cabinet also commended the unprecedented attendance of the Kingdom-hosted 10th Arab-China Business Conference, where over 3,500 participants from 26 countries attended the event that saw signing agreements in several fields worth over $10 billion. The agreements aim to expand economic, commercial and investment relations between the two sides and develop them to achieve further growth, progress and prosperity.

The minister emphasized that the Cabinet expressed the Kingdom's strong desire for broad participation from donor countries in the upcoming conference, scheduled for June 19, 2023, to announce pledges to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and the region. The aim is to collectively alleviate the effects of the crisis.

The Cabinet reaffirmed the Kingdom's ongoing efforts to facilitate dialogue and convergence of views between the conflicting parties, with the ultimate goal of resolving the crisis through political dialogue.

The meeting also underlined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) statement, issued at the conclusion of the fourth term for 2023, commending the remarkable growth of the Kingdom's economy as a result of the continued high pace of development of the non-oil sector, tangible recovery of the investment area, and continued implementation of economic reforms aimed at achieving comprehensive and sustainable growth.

The Cabinet underlined the Kingdom's leading position and progress in several economic areas in 2022, most notably the fact that it had the fastest-growing economy among G20 economies, the drop in unemployment rates to historic levels, and the high participation of women in the labor force, as well as the improvement of indicators related to digitization, regulatory environment and business environment.

The minister noted that the Cabinet expressed its appreciation for the Royal Order of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to establish the Global Cybersecurity Forum in a move that reinforces the Kingdom’s presence globally in this field, its role in supporting international efforts, unifying endeavors, opening wider prospects for knowledge transfer and exchange of expertise, and exploring opportunities for cooperation in this sector.



Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Taiwan is investigating who is responsible for modifying the pagers that were turned into explosives in the hands of the Lebanese people, including members of Hezbollah.

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang told Asharq Al-Awsat that 260,000 pagers were exported from his country between 2022 and 2024, and 16 percent of them were sent to the United States and Europe.

He expressed his regret that the pagers were planted with explosives that were used in the attack in Lebanon last month, clarifying that the devices were not directly exported from Taiwan to Lebanon.

He explained that the components of the device are made of material that is not liable to explode.

Apollo Gold, the Taiwanese company that exported the pagers between 2022 and 2024, has never received any complaints that its devices have caused harm or exploded.

The attack in Lebanon has raised several questions and they are being probed by authorities in Taiwan, he went on to say.

One thing is for certain, the devices were not harmful in the shape they were exported from the country, stressed Chang.

Asked about whether the attack may harm Taiwan’s economy, he replied that his country’s industry sector has a strong reputation that will be difficult to undermine given the trust it has from clients.

The size of the sector and Taiwan’s investments cannot be measured by a small number of pagers, as they only make up a mere fraction in the country’s trade relations with countries all over the world, he stressed.

Separately, Chang revealed that Taiwan was considering cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the chip industry, saying he was optimistic over the broad potential for cooperation in the technology sector.

There are no limits to the cooperation between them, he added.

Taiwan constantly wants to maintain the relations and discuss opportunities for joint investments, he stated.

Taiwan was among the first countries to leap to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in all fields to help the Kingdom achieve its Vision 2030 that is spearheaded by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Chang said.