Saudi FM receives G20 baton from Japan as Kingdom prepares to host 2020 summit
November 23, 2019, 11:09 am

Saudi FM receives G20 baton from Japan as Kingdom prepares to host 2020 summit

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan is officially handed over the Group of 20 baton from Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. (Twitter)

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan was officially handed over the Group of 20 batons from Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi at a ceremony on Saturday in Nagoya, signaling the Kingdom’s G20 presidency of the 2020 summit, which is to be hosted Riyadh.

Prince Faisal arrived in Japan on Friday, where he met with the foreign ministers of the Group of 20 and discussed free trade, sustainable development and how to assist rapidly growing economies in Africa.

The two-day event is the last of the eight ministerial G20 meetings to be chaired by Japan this year.

“Under the guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince, I was honored today to take over the Kingdom’s presidency of the Group of 20 for 2020. It will be a year full of hope and work, and a year filled with communication and dialogue, where people will be at the heart of sustainable development and the primary beneficiary of today’s technology. Welcome to Saudi Arabia,” Prince Faisal wrote on his official Twitter account.

King Salman has hailed the Kingdom’s G20 presidency as proof of its key role in the global economy.

Japan - which headed the G20 this year - was the Kingdom’s second-largest export market last year, at $33 billion, according to IMF trade data.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told Prince Faisal he was pleased to meet him for the first time and both sides wanted to boost relations, according to a read-out from Japan’s foreign ministry.

Motegi praised Saudi work to stabilize southern Yemen, where Riyadh spearheaded a deal to end a power struggle between Yemen’s government.

Diplomats said that Saudi Arabia plans more than a dozen G20 summits throughout the year on tourism, agriculture, energy, environment, and the digital economy.

The two-day summit in Riyadh will be held on Nov. 21-22, 2020, in what will be the first G20 meeting to be hosted in the Arab world.

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”