The 15th annual G20 Leader’s Summit will be held for the first time in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, on the 21st and 22nd of November, 2020. Formed in 1999 to discuss policy matters and global financial stability, the G20 (or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries – Germany, the United States, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Indonesia, France, South Africa, South Korea, India, the Uited Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey – and the European Union.
According to a statement by Saudi Press Agency, “Saudi Arabia is fully committed to the G20’s objectives and to the stability and prosperity of the international economic system.” As reported by Middle East Monitor, the summit’s agenda will include financial, economic. and social issues including energy, the environment, climate, the digital economy, trade, agriculture, healthcare, education, and labor.
As highlighted in an article by Al-Arabiya last year, Saudi Arabia is not only a key player in the region, it plays an “important role in stabilizing the global economy and is a key player in the stability of oil markets globally. Riyadh, the world’s largest oil exporter, produced 10.7 million barrels per day in October, accounting for more than 10 percent of world production, and boasts the largest weight among OPEC.” In addition, the Kingdom ranks third among the G20 countries – after China and Japan – in terms of foreign reserves, with $ 507.2 billion (1.9 trillion riyals).
As Saudi Arabians look forward to hosting the 2020 G20 Summit, this year’s meeting is scheduled to be held in Osaka, Japan, on the 28th and 29th of June, along with ministerial meetings in eight cities. It will be the first G20 summit to be hosted in Japan. Last year’s summit was held in Buenos Aries, Argentina. Its main focus was on the global economy, the future of labor markets, and gender equality.
