JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has called upon G-20 member countries to adopt strong and coordinated measures to achieve economic recovery.
In an article entitled “Optimism and Determination” published by Britain’s First Magazine, King Abdullah urged countries hit by the global crisis to carry out drastic financial reforms in order to boost economic growth.
King Abdullah, who led the Kingdom’s delegation to the summit, said Saudi Arabia would continue to adopt policies aimed at ensuring economic growth, creating more jobs and fulfilling its commitments to playing a constructive role in world economy. “Saudi Arabia will continue to provide assistance to developing countries directly and indirectly. It will also play its role to stabilize oil markets,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the king as writing in the article.
King Abdullah urged the international community to help find a solution to the protracted Arab-Israeli conflict in order to reinforce peace and stability in the Middle East. “In the absence of a comprehensive and just peace in the region, it will be meaningless to talk about economic stability and growth.”
He said Israel has so far rejected an Arab peace initiative that has been on the table since 2002. “We call upon the international community to shoulder its responsibility in reaching a just and comprehensive peace in the region,” the king said, adding that the proposal would not remain on the table forever.
King Abdullah also referred to the G-20 summit in Washington. “In our meeting in Washington, we decided on a detailed work plan for what should be done to confront the financial crisis. We appreciate the steps taken to implement this plan,” the king said.
“But the escalation of the crisis underlines that measures taken are not enough and a convincing reform of the financial sector in the affected countries is required,” he pointed out. “This is a basic requirement for the success of any policy to stimulate economic growth and lay solid basis for the global financial system in order to prevent the occurrence of such crisis in the future and resist protectionist tendencies that have begun to surface,” he explained.
King Abdullah called for additional measures to boost demand, create job opportunities and deal with the problems facing the financial sector “as success will depend on how well measures are coordinated to provide financial and monetary stimulus, reform financial sectors and organize markets,” he said.
He urged G-20 countries to ensure the freedom of movement of trade and investment and resist protectionist tendencies. “We should also stress our commitment to helping the developing nations in confronting the negative effects of the crisis,” he pointed out.
The king said Saudi Arabia’s foreign aid exceeded the target of 0.7 percent set by the United Nations. Saudi Arabia contributed $84 billion in foreign aid during the past 30 years.
He said the Kingdom has taken several measures to boost confidence in the economy and curb the effects of the crisis on the financial sector. “Liquidity and deposit guarantees have been provided. We have also adopted measures to ensure the provision of sufficient financing in the economy,” he added.
According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia’s economic stimulus package is the largest in G-20 countries.
The Kingdom has adopted an investment and development program for the government and monetary sectors, valued at $400 billion, for five years. It has allocated 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to finance the program in three years.
King Abdullah highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts to stabilize international oil market. “Despite the negative impact this is having, the Kingdom continues to proceed with its huge investment program to increase its productive capacity due to its keen interest in stabilizing the world energy markets and its conviction that this serves its interest as well as the interests of the world economy,” he said.
“We call on consumer countries to cooperate with us in this field to strengthen the dialogue between producers and consumers to serve their common interest and not target oil with policies that negatively affect it. In this regard, the Kingdom initiated, in cooperation with a number of friendly countries, and based on its desire to enhance dialogue, the establishment of the General Secretariat for the International Energy Forum in Riyadh,” the king wrote in the article.
