It is not the first time that the youth of my country have excelled, they proudly always earn our trust in all occasions, but this year the challenge before them was exceptional because of the pandemic that disrupted life on our planet and confused the priorities of humanity… The Saudis have found themselves faced with the responsibility of leading the world’s 20 most powerful economies in the face of a pandemic that no one knows precisely how to confront, and to what extent it will delve into its disastrous effects.

At a time when countries and societies retreated to themselves and the walls in the world that were open came up in the face of a dangerous epidemic, the leadership of my country realized that its duty today is to lead the world, by courageously confronting an exceptional challenge, and hastened to launch many initiatives under the slogan “Seizing the opportunities of the twenty-first century for all “in the face of” retreating to oneself and missing out on opportunities .”

The Saudis have found themselves faced with the responsibility of leading the world’s 20 most powerful economies in the face of a pandemic that no one knows precisely how to confront, and to what extent it will delve into its disastrous effects.

Naif bin Marzouq Al-Fahadi, Saudi Ambassador to Japan

Therefore, it focused in its initiatives on summoning the G20 countries to present many initiatives in order to meet the challenge, as the G20 countries courageously pledged at the beginning of the pandemic more than 21 billion dollars to meet the immediate financing needs, and to pump more than 11 trillion dollars in the global economy to support companies and protect the livelihoods of individuals, to expand social protection networks to protect those at risk of losing their jobs and sources of income, to provide emergency support to the most vulnerable countries in the world, and to provide more than 14 billion dollars to relieve the burden of debt on the most vulnerable countries to risk, in addition to providing more than 300 billion dollars through development banks, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Young people in my country, as they bid farewell to this exceptional event, are overwhelmed by feelings of gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and to His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, for giving them confidence and support to be up to the occasion, towards a stronger, more durable and sustainable world.

• Naif bin Marzouq Al-Fahadi has been the Saudi ambassador to Japan since February 2019.