Saudi officials voiced optimism towards the G20 2020 Riyadh summit producing a policy and recommendations platform that would enhance the recovery of the global economy from the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.
The outcome of the G20 summit, slotted for November 21-22, is also expected to help create a more robust global economy to face any future shocks.
The upcoming G20 Leaders’ summit, held under the Saudi Presidency, aims to move forward in the spirit of “cooperation and solidarity” to overcome global challenges, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan said, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
“We are proud of the Kingdom for chairing and organizing the G20 Leaders’ summit this year during this difficult period that the whole world is going through due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” al-Jadaan said in a statement to SPA.
Al-Jadaan stated that the Kingdom’s Presidency of the G20 launched the initiative to suspend debt service payments, allowing the world’s poorest countries to postpone the payment of $14 billion of debts owed by them this year.
“The upcoming G20 Leaders’ summit chaired by Saudi King Salman will seek to strengthen international cooperation to support global economic recovery and lay solid foundations for strong, sustainable, balanced and comprehensive growth,” the minister said.
Al-Jadaan added that the Kingdom is tirelessly working with G20 partners around the world in order to overcome the global coronavirus crisis and “emerge from it with a more robust global economy to face any future shocks.”
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) Governor Ahmed Alkholifey confirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has achieved many accomplishments related to the agenda of coordinating policies, finding solutions and developing initiatives that enable the G20 to achieve the slogan of this year, "Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century for All".
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Alkholifey explained that the main priority for financial legislation was set under the title “Framing Supervisory and Regulatory Issues for the Digital Era" and a number of basic priorities fall under this goal, most notably agreeing on road map to boost global cross-border payments, a historic step aimed at improving global cross-border payment arrangements.
Alkholifey indicated that the Kingdom's presidency worked with the G20 countries and relevant international organizations to discuss the best ways to develop the digital infrastructure, in addition to coming up with many reports and supported studies, most notably the “G20 High-Level Policy Guidelines on Digital Financial Inclusion for Youth, Women, and SMEs.”
These guidelines provide a set of featured policy options targeting financial inclusion gaps for youth, women, and SMEs through digital financial services in order to reach conditions in which all people can live, work and thrive; as well as utilize and share benefits of innovations and digitalization.