Riyadh Reaffirms Commitment to int’l Concerted Cooperation

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirmed commitment to international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows, and to promote good practices regarding the recovery of financial assets, stressing that the programs and initiatives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 contribute to enhancing transparency, developing policies and procedures, and filling gaps through which corruption could be penetrated.

This came in the Kingdom’s speech during the general discussion of “Macroeconomic Policies (18)” within the workings of the Economic and Financial Committee, during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, delivered by the Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Committee, at the Kingdom’s permanent delegation to the United Nations,Reem Fahad Al-Omair.

Al-Omair explained that the Kingdom is keen to harness its potential and resources in the service of humanitarian issues, in full cooperation with the United Nations, its agencies and organizations, and the international community.

She indicated that the Kingdom has an important role in international cooperation and support for countries, as it was able, during its presidency of the G20, in 2020, and in light of the spread of the pandemic, to work to unify and coordinate efforts globally, so it initiated an extraordinary summit for the global response to the effects of the pandemic, which have yielded good results.

This exceptional summit positively contributed to mitigating those effects, and launched a debt relief mechanism to provide support to low-income countries and enable them to harness all potentials to combat the pandemic and mitigate its economic effects.

The Kingdom has also embarked on enacting continuous economic reforms, which have contributed to the establishment of a strong and flexible financial system in the Kingdom, and has been able to take strong and decisive measures to ensure that the negative economic effects resulting from the epidemic are overcome, she added.

Al-Omair drew attention to the fact that these measures were positively reflected in taking proactive measures to limit the spread of the pandemic, at an early date, and to harness all material and human capabilities to provide integrated health care free of charge, in accordance with the best international standards and practices.

Based on the Kingdom’s awareness of the economic and security impact of corruption on any society, the Kingdom has taken strong and resolute steps to combat and confront corruption, and the Kingdom pays great attention to combating corruption of all kinds, providing support to the competent authorities and committees in the Kingdom to combat corruption, and enacting firm regulations and legislation to address corruption, she elaborated.

Believing in the importance of international cooperation in addressing corruption, the Kingdom launched the Riyadh initiative to establish a global network for law enforcement authorities concerned with anti-corruption, as the network “GlobeE” and exchange information between anti-corruption agencies around the world, She noted.

Al-Omair indicated that the Kingdom attaches great importance to sustainable development goals, and has also taken effective steps to implement the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals plan approved by the United Nations, in line with national development plans, through various programs, initiatives and projects that fall under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

She stressed that from this standpoint, the Kingdom has launched the National Investment Strategy as one of the main enablers to achieve the objectives of Vision 2030, as the strategy will contribute to economic growth, diversify its sources and sustain it, and contribute to increasing efficiency between the public and private sectors, improving the business environment and enhancing its attractiveness, empowering investors, and providing financing solutions.

Raising competitiveness and developing opportunities for investment in promising economic sectors, noting that the Kingdom is working to enable Vision 2030 by raising domestic investment, increasing foreign direct investment flows, and augment the contribution of foreign direct investment to the GDP, she pointed out.

At the conclusion of the speech, the Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Committee in the Kingdom’s permanent delegation to the United Nations, reiterated the importance of the great role played by the United Nations and its various organs, and the importance of international efforts to recover from the effects of the pandemic and international cooperation to achieve comprehensive global eco

The Kingdom is fully committed to achieving the sustainable development goals, at the national level, continuing its cooperation with its partners in the United Nations and the international community to achieve the 2030 sustainable development goals, at all levels, and providing all the support that this stage will require, in order to achieve comprehensive economic recovery, she concluded.