Leaders of the G20 nations, the world’s largest economies, concluded their two-day virtual summit this weekend hosted by Saudi Arabia offering pledges to cooperate on the Coronavirus pandemic, the global economic recovery, energy and climate change, and women’s empowerment.
The nations succeeded in sending a message of “hope and reassurance to their citizens and the global community,” Saudi Arabia’s King Salman said on Sunday, in remarks concluding the meeting.
King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in virtual attendance of the G20 2020 meetings, hosted by Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia is the first G20 nation to host the annual meeting in the Middle East. Disappointed at the need to host the event virtually instead of in-person, organizers in the Kingdom were nevertheless determined to show the world it was ready to welcome the world’s top leaders virtually over the weekend, as it had other representatives from member-nations throughout the year for breakout meetings.
“We underscore the urgent need to bring the spread of the virus under control,” the leaders of the G-20 nations said in the group’s final communique. Throughout the summit, leaders argued that only collective action could bring the crisis to heel. They offered to work together on ensuring equitable access to treatments, when available, a tacit support for multilateralism and global cooperation.
“We have seen very clear signs but also actions by the G-20 supporting multilateralism,” Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabia’s finance minister, said during a news conference at the summit’s conclusion, according to the Washington Post. Al-Jadaan mentioned the group’s support for institutions including the World Health Organization. As the Post notes, The Trump administration gave a year’s notice of the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO in July; President-elect Joe Biden has said he would stop that process. News media reported that President Trump played golf instead of attending the G20 pandemic preparedness meeting. The outgoing president used his final G20 summit to defend his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord.
Leaders of the G20 meeting virtually attending this year’s summit, hosted by Riyadh.
In his closing remarks at the end of the two-day summit hosted virtually in Riyadh due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the king announced that the members of the 20 largest economies of the world had adopted the final communique.
“We have succeeded in sending out a message of hope and reassurance to our citizens and all people around the world through the final communique of this leaders’ summit,” the king said. The king also said that G20 countries have upheld their commitment to working together to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and to safeguard lives and livelihoods.
“We have adopted important policies that will achieve recovery all the way to an economy that is resilient, sustainable, inclusive, and balanced,” King Salman said.
Saudi Arabia will continue to answer the global call to address modern challenges, together with G20 members, says Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that 2020 offered a new potential blueprint for the group in the future, suggesting that the positive results were achieved from the first extraordinary summit held in March 2020 to tackle the COVID-19 crisis and that in 2021 and beyond, the G20 should meet twice a year, once virtually and once in-person.
“We hope that Italy will crystallize this idea with the aim of supporting joint international coordination and intensifying the role, to come up with policies and initiatives to meet any challenges and determine the economic and well-being of our peoples,” he said. “(The G20) has been an essential link among our countries. It has demonstrated the vitality of its role, over the years, to deal with economic, financial, social, and environmental issues,” he said. Italy is the next host of the G20 in 2021.
The crown prince emphasized the importance of cooperation in light of the outbreak of COVID-19 , and its health, economic, and social repercussions.
“Together we have addressed this challenge with seriousness necessitated by the responsibility to preserve human life, protect livelihoods, mitigate the ensuing damage of this pandemic, and raise readiness to face any future crises, God forbid,” he added.
[Click here to read the G20’s Final Communique]
