Economy – Chaired by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud—may God protect him—the 15th session of the G20 Leaders" Summit Group of Twenty (G20) began virtually yesterday. At the start of the summit, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, delivered the following speech: Your Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses, and Distinguished Guests, Peace be upon you, and may God’s mercy and blessings be upon you: We are pleased to welcome you to the Riyadh Summit, the second summit of this year, and we regret that we were unable to welcome you in person in Riyadh due to the difficult circumstances we are all facing this year. It is a pleasure to see you all here today, and we thank you for your participation.
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
This has been an extraordinary year, as the COVID-19 pandemic dealt an unprecedented shock that swept across the entire world in a short period of time. This pandemic has also caused significant economic and social losses worldwide. Our peoples and economies continue to suffer from this shock, but we will do our utmost to overcome this crisis through international cooperation. At our extraordinary summit last March, we pledged to mobilize urgent resources, and at the onset of the crisis, we collectively contributed more than twenty-one billion dollars to support global efforts to combat this pandemic.
$11 trillion to support individuals and businesses
King Salman’s speech stated: We have also taken exceptional measures to support our economies by injecting more than $11 trillion to support individuals and businesses, and we have expanded social safety nets to protect those vulnerable to losing their jobs and sources of income. We have provided emergency support to developing countries. This includes the G20 initiative to suspend debt service payments for low-income countries. It is therefore our duty to rise to the challenge together during this summit and to reassure our people and instill hope in them by adopting policies to address this crisis.
Preserving the Planet
Distinguished participants, our overarching goal is to harness the opportunities of the 21st century for all. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to quickly refocus our efforts to address its impacts, the key themes we have established under this overarching goal—empowering people, preserving the planet, and shaping new horizons—remain essential to overcoming this global challenge and building a better future for our peoples, and in the near future, we must address the vulnerabilities exposed by this crisis, while working to protect lives and livelihoods.
Reopening Economies and National Borders
We are encouraged by the progress made in developing vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tools for the coronavirus, but we must work to create the conditions that allow for equitable and affordable access to them for all people. At the same time, we must be better prepared for future pandemics.
We must continue to support the global economy and reopen our economies and national borders to facilitate the flow of trade and people, and we must provide coordinated support to developing countries to preserve the development progress achieved over the past decades.
Sustaining Strong and Inclusive Growth
In addition, to lay the foundations for strong, sustainable, and inclusive growth, we must work to provide opportunities for everyone—especially women and youth—to strengthen their roles in society and the labor market. This can be achieved through education, training, job creation, support for entrepreneurs, the promotion of financial inclusion, and bridging the digital divide among individuals.
We must also create the conditions for a more sustainable economy. To that end, we have promoted the principle of a circular carbon economy as an effective approach to achieving our climate change goals and ensuring cleaner, more sustainable, and more affordable energy systems. We must lead the international community in preserving and protecting the environment.
