The 3rd G20 Speakers’ Consultation Meeting will also address a wide range of other issues, such as the financial crisis and its repercussions on global economic stability.

Participants of the two-day event arrived in Riyadh yesterday.  Senior Shoura Council officials received the delegates at King Khaled International Airport. Later in the day, Shoura Chairman Abdullah Al-Asheikh hosted a dinner at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, the conference venue, in honor of the foreign delegates.

Besides the G20 countries, some Arab, Islamic and friendly countries and international bodies have been invited as guests to the summit. They include the UAE, Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia, Spain, Hungary, Kazakhstan and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The G20 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union.

At the inauguration of the summit, Al-Asheikh will make the opening remarks on behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

In a press statement, Al-Asheikh said the meeting will be a major milestone in establishing joint parliamentary work among the G20 nations. The theme for the consultation meeting will be “sustainable economic growth for a safe world.”

Dialogue among peoples and nations is a mechanism for finding common grounds and understanding to reach common goals, Al-Asheikh said, adding that he would also announce the establishment of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna.

The first session titled "Global Dialogue of Cultures" will be chaired by the Shoura chairman.

Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Cemil Çiçek will deliver the first speech during this session.

On the first day of the meeting, the delegates will be taken on a tour of the Shoura headquarters in Riyadh, where they will be shown a documentary on the history of the Kingdom and the achievements made by the Shoura Council from the time of its inception.

The main topics of discussion during the session on Global Dialogue of Cultures would include, forms of the global dialogue among the followers of different religions and cultures, importance of institutionalizing the global dialogue, spreading the culture of dialogue and tolerance as a means to promote peace and understanding among peoples and contribution to reducing tension and conflict in the international community.

The Riyadh conference is the third of its kind. The first meeting held in Ottawa, Canada, in 2010, focused on means for strengthening the role of parliamentary diplomacy to realize food security for all world nations.

The second meeting took place in 2011 in Seoul, South Korea, where delegates discussed economic development strategies based on the expertise of developed nations, international cooperation for common growth, food security in light of the global financial crisis — and the supporting role of parliaments — in addition to the strategy for international parliamentary cooperation to fight terrorism and shore up peace.