Saudi FM: Saudi Participation in G20 Rome Summit Represents 'Continuation of Roadmap for Collective Action’

Saudi Arabia’s FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends G20 Leaders’ Summit. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia’s FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends G20 Leaders’ Summit. (SPA)
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Saudi FM: Saudi Participation in G20 Rome Summit Represents 'Continuation of Roadmap for Collective Action’

Saudi Arabia’s FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends G20 Leaders’ Summit. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia’s FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends G20 Leaders’ Summit. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday highlighted the importance of the Kingdom’s membership in the G20 and added that the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Italy’s capital Rome was picking up where the Kingdom’s presidency had left off last year.

Prince Faisal praised the Italian efforts and achievements during its presidency of the G20 in 2021, picking up from what was adopted during the Kingdom’s presidency last year to support the group’s efforts in achieving international cooperation in the face of the global challenges.

The Saudi FM highlighted the importance of the Kingdom’s membership in the G20, citing the country’s “great economic power and influence, which makes it an influential party in drawing global economic policies.”

Saudi Arabia’s participation in this year’s G20 is a “continuation of the roadmap for joint collective action undertaken by all member states,” he added.

Prince Faisal stressed the international interest in multilateral cooperation to reach sustainable development goals through global forums such as the G20.

This is in addition to doubling joint international efforts for faster recovery from the challenges ahead, restoring global economic growth, promoting global health, and restoring stability in all aspects of life.

Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat also emphasized the importance of international cooperation in trade and investment to help increase economic growth, development, innovation, and job creation in various countries.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said it was essential to address climate change, adding that there’s a need to protect the environment, citing the Kingdom’s efforts in this regard through the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative.

The Middle East Green Initiative summit, which was held recently in Riyadh, represented a “launching pad for cooperation with the Kingdom’s international partners in raising the level of joint action in climate diplomacy,” SPA reported the minister as saying.

More so, Prince Faisal said the G20 this year, under the Italian presidency, discussed humanity, the planet, and prosperity, a matter that contributed to achieving global goals, advancing the wheel of prosperity in all countries, preserving people, the earth, and the environment to achieve the aspirations of all peoples.

It underlined the importance of taking the necessary steps and intensifying international efforts to provide safe and sufficient food for all countries, setting up faster mechanisms for adapting agriculture and food systems to climate change, and increasing investments that stimulate food security, sustainable food systems, and regional development.

Meanwhile, Prince Faisal reiterated the priority of peace and security in the African continent for the Kingdom.

He highlighted the Kingdom’s support for regional and international efforts in close cooperation with the African Union to lay the foundations for stability, security, and conflict resolution.

He expressed the Kingdom’s aspiration to unite global efforts to advance African countries’ status and increase investment in health, education, infrastructure, technology, public services, and development sectors to achieve prosperity, progress, and development in Africa.

Prince Faisal extended his appreciation to the Italian presidency for its keenness this year in rallying efforts to continue facing global challenges and working towards building a promising future for all countries.

He expressed his confidence that the success of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in the Italian capital, Rome, will yield many positive results that will serve the future of the world and its peoples and contribute to solving the most critical files, challenges, and international issues.



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.