Arab News Japan

TOKYO: King Salman chaired an emergency Virtual Summit of the G20 world leaders to discuss the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which, to date, has no known cure or preventive vaccine.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the summit through video conference and explained the situation of the new coronavirus infection in Japan. He also made two major points to tackle the situation.

The first is to bring together the world's wisdom, including the WHO and the private sector, to accelerate the development of therapeutics, etc., in order to deal with the current situation.

The second is for the G20 countries to show its strength and implement strong economic and financial measures.

Regarding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games, Abe referred to the agreement with IOC chairman Thomas Bach to postpone it for about one year and hold it at least by the summer of next year.

He also expressed his determination to hold the event in a perfect shape to show the victory of humankind over COVID-19.

The G20 leaders expressed their understanding and support for this decision.

Meanwhile, Japanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Uemura Tsukasa told Arab News: “First of all, I would like to express my highest respect to the government of Saudi Arabia, which holds the G20 presidency this year, for hosting the extraordinary Virtual G20 Summit meeting at this critical moment. We are now facing one of the biggest global crises in history. It is time for the G20 countries to cooperate and take the lead in the global fight against the novel coronavirus.

“As a member country of the G20 Troika (the previous, present, and next countries to hold the presidency of the G20), Japan is keen to cooperate with other countries to tackle this crisis,” the envoy added.

“Prime Minister Abe is fully committed to handling the situation every day and taking leadership in implementing robust precautious measures to prevent the further spread of the virus. I sincerely hope that the world will overcome this crisis as early as possible.”

(With inputs from Arab News)