NAGOYA — Saudi Arabia took over the presidency of the G20 Group for 2020 at a meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers held in Japan on Saturday.

The Saudi delegation headed by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan thanked Japan for the leadership and success of the Group's work in 2019, and welcomed the receipt of the Kingdom's presidency of the G20 for 2020.

Prince Faisal stressed that Saudi Arabia has prepared a comprehensive and ambitious program upon the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, and the follow-up and direct supervision of the Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense.

Last June, the Crown Prince outlined the Kingdom's presidency program in his speech at Osaka Summit, which includes the most pressing issues and challenges facing the economic sectors in the future, in cooperation with the G20 countries.

Saudi Arabia will launch the detailing of the Kingdom's G20 Presidency program on Dec. 1, 2019, which seeks to support and grow innovation in the world, achieve prosperity, empower the people of the world and conserve the earth, in line with the programs and initiatives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

Diplomats said that Saudi Arabia plans more than a dozen G20 summits throughout the year on tourism, agriculture, energy, environment and digital economy.

Prince Faisal picked up the baton at a ceremony on Saturday in Nagoya, where G20 foreign ministers have gathered for talks.

Japan — which headed the G20 this year — was the Kingdom’s second-largest export market last year, at $33 billion, according to IMF trade data.

Apart from its reliance on Saudi oil, Japan has deepened its ties with the Kingdom thanks to Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank Group. Riyadh has been a big supporter of SoftBank’s massive Vision Fund.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told Prince Faisal he was pleased to meet him for the first time and both sides wanted to boost relations, according to a read-out from Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

Motegi praised Saudi work to stabilize southern Yemen, where Riyadh orchestrated a deal to end a power struggle between Yemen’s government, which it backs, and Southern Transition Council (STC). — SG with agencies