Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is leading
the Kingdom’s delegation to the summit. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
met King Abdullah and other G20 leaders on Saturday. He also hosted a dinner in
honor of the world leaders.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the summit,
Al-Assaf said the wise economic policies adopted by the Kingdom enabled it to
deal efficiently with others. He also emphasized the solid performance of the
Kingdom’s overseas assets.
Muhammad Al-Jasser, governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary
Agency (SAMA), said the wise policies adopted by the Kingdom before and after
the global economic crisis enabled it to participate in G20. “Before the
crisis, Saudi Arabia paid back most of its debts,” the governor said. “The
Kingdom also works to stabilize the international oil market,” he added.
In a related development, Commerce and Industry Minister
Abdullah Zainal Alireza predicted that Saudi Arabia would achieve a four
percent growth rate in 2010. Addressing the Saudi-British Business Council
meeting in London, he said he expected a 20 percent growth in direct foreign
investment in the Kingdom.
He described Saudi Arabia’s plan to spend $400 billion until
2013 as the largest in the G20 countries. He said most G20 countries have not
taken any precautionary measures to protect themselves from the threat of large
financial deficits.
Alireza underscored the Kingdom’s investment-friendly
climate. The World Bank rated Saudi Arabia as the 13th most competitive country
in the world in its annual Doing Business report, thus ensuring the Kingdom is
well poised to achieve its goal of becoming one of the top 10 most competitive
countries by 2010.
For the fifth consecutive year, the report ranks Saudi
Arabia as the best place to do business in the entire Middle East and Arab
World, ahead of Bahrain (20th), the UAE (33rd) and Qatar (39th). The report
also ranks Saudi Arabia ahead of advanced economies such as Japan, Germany,
France, and Switzerland.
