Riyadh, SPA:
The Media Committee of the Group of Twenty (G20) organized at the theater of the Saudi News Agency in Riyadh today, the first introductory forum for media professionals, on the occasion of the Kingdom's hosting of the Group of Twenty that started on December 1, 2019 and continues until the end of November 2020, in the presence of the Minister of Media and Chairman of the Media Committee Turki bin Abdullah Al-Shabana, Minister of State, Member of the Council of Ministers and the Saudi G20 Sherpa, Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Al Mubarak, the Adviser at the Royal Court and Secretary-General of the Saudi Secretariat of the Group of Twenty Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Tunsi, and the Secretary-General of the Media Committee of The Group of Twenty Dr. Fahd bin Hassan Al Akran, and a number of excellencies and officials.
The activities of the forum started with an introductory film about the Group of Twenty.
Minister of Media and Chairman of the Media Committee Turki bin Abdullah Al-Shabana, delivered a speech during which he said that the kingdom has prepared an integrated program to ensure the success of this global event that will be held in the Kingdom under the slogan "seizing the opportunities of the twenty-first century for all", in order to address current and emerging issues and address the challenges of the future.
He stated that the summit will contribute to raising issues of concern to the MENA region, adding that the Media Committee has prepared a complete strategic plan for the year of the Kingdom’s presidency for the Group of Twenty and their upcoming meetings, and for providing all facilities for media delegations from member states and local media to cover more than 135 meetings and conferences.
He said that an international media center - that will be established at the time of the next summit in November 2020 - will accommodate approximately 10 thousand media men.
Minister of State, Member of the Council of Ministers and the Saudi G20 Sherpa Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Al Mubarak delivered a speech about the beginnings of the group that was formed in 1974, and the Kingdom has been a member since 1999 until the present time and leads this year this world economic gathering.
Dr. Al-Mubarak indicated that the global economy is now going through a complex period and a kind of uncertainty, despite the improvement in global economic growth since the financial crisis in 2008, but this has slowed over the past years, although there were a number of opportunities available that could contribute to the rise of the global economy in 2020, however, there are a number of challenges and risks that stop this growth such as financial market volatility, environmental challenges, demographic changes, and turmoil that may accompany promising technologies.
Dr. Al-Mubarak stated that the year 2020 marks the beginning of a new decade, and 10 years remain to achieve the Kingdom's Vision 2030, stressing that the goals of the vision and the goals of the Group of Twenty are largely compatible with more than 82%.
Dr. Al-Mubarak said, "During the Kingdom's presidency of the Group of Twenty, our vision will be ambitious, as we will focus on the opportunities and challenges of the twenty-first century, and not only the current urgent opportunities and challenges, as we will work to achieve concrete results for the whole world, and will be in cooperation with members of the group and communicate with all relevant parties such as non-members countries, international organizations and civil society representatives, under the guidance of His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.
Advisor at the Royal Court and Secretary General of the Saudi Secretariat of the Group of Twenty Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Tunsi confirmed during his speech that the Kingdom’s presidency of the Group of Twenty is a matter of great pride.
Dr. Tunsi stated that the role of the Kingdom’s presidency of the Group of Twenty started from December 20, 2019, where a large number of meetings took place in Riyadh without the presence of media men.
Secretary General of the G-20 Media Committee Dr. Fahd bin Hassan Al-Aqran presented a briefing on the Group of Twenty event.
The officials answered journalists ’questions. Minister of Media and Head of the Media Committee for the Presidency of the Kingdom of the Twentieth Summit Turki bin Abdullah Al-Shabana affirmed that the Kingdom has an ambitious vision, and witnesses developments in all fields and all levels, making the G20 leaders' summit an opportunity to show these developments to the whole world.
He also talked about the role of media and motivating media people to keep pace with the Group of 20, adding that there are approved protocols in terms of media coverage by the media, and noting that work in the Group of Twenty is not limited to the Ministry of Media but includes all state agencies as there are partnerships and committees that include all ministries and government institutions in the Kingdom.
Minister of State, Member of the Council of Ministers and the Saudi G20 Sherpa Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Al Mubarak stated that a US delegation from Congress is currently visiting the Kingdom and they have a desire to visit the Saudi Secretariat of the Group of Twenty, indicating that the Kingdom is working to take advantage of the presence of delegations concerned with the meetings of the Group of Twenty that visit the Kingdom to inform them of promising local investment opportunities in the Kingdom and learn about the competitive indicators achieved to contribute to attracting investments.
The Saudi G20 Sherpa stressed the importance of the role of women and youth in society, providing jobs for them and enabling them to reach leadership positions, and supporting them to achieve benefit for the country.
Member of the Council of Ministers and the Saudi G20 Sherpa Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Al Mubarak affirmed that the G20's agreed policies and initiatives are formulated by international organizations into local laws.
Adviser at the Royal Court and Secretary-General of the Saudi Secretariat of the Group of Twenty Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Tunsi said that the Kingdom has prepared an integrated educational program that will reach 30 thousand educational schools and 6 million students, in addition to other activities.
He indicated that the Kingdom is an influential country in the world’s economy.
On choosing the emblem of the Kingdom’s presidency for the Group of Twenty Summit, he clarified that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for the Presidency of the Kingdom of the Group of Twenty Summit directed that the emblem represent the identity of the Kingdom, where the Ministry of Culture held a competition for artists and creators to design the summit emblem at the Kingdom’s level and the Saudi young man Mohammed Al-Hawas succeeded in Logo design chosen to represent the identity and culture of the Kingdom.