H.E. Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, Dr. Majid Abdullah Al-Qasabi, and the accompanying delegation took part in the G20 Meeting of the Trade, Investment and Industry Working Group (TIIWG) held between 21-23 September 2022, in Bali, Indonesia.
His Excellency emphasized that the conference during Indonesia's presidency year is consistent with major efforts made in conjunction with GCC nations to shape the future of trade and investment, as well as how to respond to global crises.
The meeting explored ways to support WTO reforms in light of the results of the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference, as well as the importance of the multilateral trading system in encouraging the accomplishment of sustainable development goals.
Participants highlighted methods to accelerate recovery by increasing long-term and comprehensive investments across all clean and low-emission technologies, including renewable energy.
The meeting also looked into the roles that the G20 can play to ensure that members benefit from digital trade and the integration of SMEs into global value chains.
The Member States underlined their sustained support for the Kingdom's results during its G20 presidency, which included a list of short- and long-term steps to strengthen international trade and investment in response to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on transformation and investment.
The opportunities for facilitating digital transformations were explored to achieve comprehensive and sustainable industrialization, while the strategies to assist MSMEs in adopting Industry 4 technology were discussed.
In the wake of the meeting, Al-Qasabi held bilateral meetings with his Indonesian counterpart Dr. Zulkifli Hassan, Minister of Trade; Indian Minister of Trade and Industry Piyush Goyal; Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative; South African Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel; New Zealand Minister of Trade and Export Growth Damien O'Connor; Singapore Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and South Korean Minister of Trade Dr. Ahn Duk-Geun.
Al-Qasabi also met with the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in Charge of Trade Valdis Dombrovskis; Turkey's Deputy Minister of Trade Mustafa Tuzcu; Russia's Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Vladimir Elishev; and Argentina's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Economic Relations, Cecilia Todesca Bocco. The Minister discussed with his counterparts ways to develop relations and strengthen economic collaboration.
His Excellency emphasized the Group's focus on analyzing the responsibilities that G20 nations may take on to benefit from digital trade and incorporate SMEs into global value chains.
He explained that the Kingdom encourages initiatives to capitalize on opportunities to empower digital transformations, as well as assistance to micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises in adopting new technology to foster comprehensive and sustainable industrialization.
This helps to strengthen the Kingdom's manufacturing sectors by focusing on capacity and talent development, R&D, and innovation.
The Saudi-Indonesian Business Council and the Business Forum were held in Jakarta, Indonesia, with the participation of Saudi-Indonesian companies.