Riyadh

President of the Senate of the Japanese Parliament Akiko Santo on Monday opened the sixth summit for G20 parliamentary speakers in Tokyo, hosted by the Japanese Parliament in cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Saudi Shoura Council Speaker Dr. Abdullah Al-Asheikh arrived in Tokyo on Sunday to head the Kingdom’s delegation. He was received by the Kingdom’s ambassador to Japan, Naif bin Marzouq Al-Fahadi, members of the Japanese Parliament and embassy officials.

Santo inaugurated the opening ceremony with a speech in which she welcomed the parliaments’ speakers and highlighted the need to promote free trade and investment, and find laws and regulations that contribute to overcoming challenges.
IPU President Gabriela Barron stressed the need for parliaments to preserve the principles of human rights, justice, the fight against corruption, climate change and women’s empowerment.

Barron reiterated the importance of the responsibility of parliaments to reprioritize development goals, address the peoples’ needs, and provide solutions for the world’s economic problems by developing long-term solutions that support free trade and movement of capital.

There was a need to promote development that supported the environment to ensure a better life for people through supporting states’ economies and the policies of production and consumption and providing employment for all, she said.

The summit discussed several topics including the promotion of free, open and fair trade and investment, the use of technology to create a human-centered future and efforts to solve global challenges to achieve sustainable development.

There were suggestions for a number of initiatives to reform the World Trade Organization by promoting trade principles, resolving differences, strengthening control over free-trade operations, integrating electronic trade and evaluating tax and fees’ rates.

Participants also stressed the need to resolve conflicts and wars to preserve a free global economy, noting that the international growth agenda should be a factor contributing to promote international relations, development and joint trade and investment.

They also stressed the need to support the private sector as a key catalyst for providing job opportunities and supporting the economy, noting the importance of bridging the gap between developing and developed economies and focusing on multilateral trade to achieve sustainable development.

SPA