Riyadh Stresses Importance of Collective Work, Pursuing Dialogue, Peace

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, chairs the cabinet meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday. (SPA)
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, chairs the cabinet meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday. (SPA)
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Riyadh Stresses Importance of Collective Work, Pursuing Dialogue, Peace

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, chairs the cabinet meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday. (SPA)
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, chairs the cabinet meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday. (SPA)

The Saudi government stressed on Tuesday the importance of collective work to confront global challenges.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, chaired the cabinet meeting that was held in Riyadh.

The government also underscored the need to improve conditions conducive to holding dialogue and reaching peace to establish a safer and more prosperous world for mankind, as stated by Saudi ministers during their participation at the G20 meeting for foreign ministers that was held in New Delhi.

Crown Prince Mohammed briefed the cabinet on the meetings he held with President of Mozambique Filipe Jacinto Nyusi and President of Eritrea Isaias Afwerki in Riyadh. The talks focused on bilateral relations and cooperation and ways to develop and bolster them.

The government reviewed regional and international developments and reiterated Saudi Arabia’s statements, during the 40th round of the Arab Interior Ministers’ Council, on the importance of bolstering security cooperation and combating drugs and everything that poses a threat to Arab security.

The government highlighted the inauguration of the Regional Center for Climate Change in the Kingdom, saying it was part of its regional and international efforts to preserve the environment and to combat climate change, in line with its Vision 2030.

The government praised the announcement of the first batch of projects that are backed by the Private Sector Partnership Reinforcement Program, Shareek, worth over 192 billion riyals.

The ministers remarked that the projects are a “significant step” for the program to achieve its goals in developing investments in the private sector, boosting local content and increasing the Kingdom’s GDP.



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.