RIYADH — The Minister of Finance Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan has explained that the G20 Leaders' Summit, to be held under the presidency of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, aims to move forward in the spirit of cooperation and solidarity, especially in light of a crisis the global economy and health face.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the minister said: "We are proud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in chairing and organizing the G20 leaders' summit this year during this difficult period that the whole world is going through due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

The minister also touched upon the Extraordinary G20 Leaders' Summit, where the G20 members and invited countries have contributed more than $21 billion to fight COVID-19. These pledges are directed towards diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, and research and development for the benefit of all.

He also added that G20 countries are pumping more than $ 11 trillion within a stimulus package to support the global economy.

Al-Jadaan indicated that the Kingdom's Presidency of the G20 launched the historical initiative to suspend debt service payments, which allowed the poorest countries in this critical period to postpone the amount of $14 billion of debts owed by them this year and to benefit from these sums to face the pandemic.

On the importance of anticipating the future and supporting recovery from the pandemic in the long term, the minister said: "The upcoming G20 Leaders' Summit will seek to strengthen international cooperation to support the stage of global economic recovery and lay solid foundations for a phase of strong, sustainable, balanced and comprehensive growth."

The minister noted that he is optimistic about the constructive outcomes of this summit, and what it will achieve in the international community's interest and the global economy.

At the end of his statement, the minister said: "We in the Kingdom are completely confident that we, under the wise leadership and through our tireless work with G20 members and with partners around the world, will be able to overcome this global crisis." — SPA