Saudi Arabia’s key takeaways from the G20 Summit

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman headed the Kingdom’s delegation at the G20 Summit in Argentina this year. He met with several world leaders throughout the two-day event, discussing trade relations, oil markets, sustainable development and infrastructure growth.

Here’s a look at some of the main takeaways for Saudi Arabia at G20, which wrapped up on Saturday.

India

Saudi Arabia has offered to supply India with oil and petroleum products that the second-largest Asian country needs to meet its growing energy demands. This came during a meeting between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of G20. During the meeting, both sides discussed bilateral cooperation in various political, security, economic, investment, agricultural, energy, cultural and technological fields.

Russia

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of G20 on Saturday and discussed areas of cooperation including rebalancing oil markets. Both the countries agreed to extend their deal to manage the oil market, known as Opec+, into 2019, following the meeting.

China

China said it firmly supports Saudi Arabia in its drive for economic diversification and social reform, and will continue to stand with the Kingdom on issues involving both countries’ core interests. President Xi Jinping spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of their meeting at G20 summit. Both the sides discussed partnerships and bringing together Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, as well as Saudi energy supplies to China and mutual investments.

International Agreements

Below is a roundup of key agreements and discussions from participating economic powers.

NAFTA

US President Donald Trump signed a revised North American trade pact with the leaders of Canada and Mexico on the sidelines of the G20 summit. The deal is meant to replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Climate change

G20 signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate, which is all of them except the US, pledged the full implementation of the pact. They also took note, without further pledges, of United Nations (UN) scientists’ call for a more ambitious target of reducing warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

IMF

The G20 pledged to provide adequate funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and to meet a goal of finalizing new national quotas in time for the Fund’s spring 2019 meetings. The quotas determined each member’s voting rights.

Gender Equality

The G20 recommitted to a four-year-old goal of reducing the gender gap in the labor force by 25 percent by 2025. It supported doing more, including increasing efforts to bring education to girls.

Write to Paromita Dey at paromita.d@argaamplus.com