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Saudi Crown Prince meets world leaders at G20 as plan to boost global economy is announced | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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French President Francois Hollande (R) meets with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (L) as part of the G20 Summit in Brisbane on November 16, 2014. (AFP PHOTO / ALAIN JOCARD)


French President François Hollande (R) meets with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz (L) as part of the G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, on November 16, 2014. (AFP Photo/Alain Jocard)

French President François Hollande (R) meets with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz (L) as part of the G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, on November 16, 2014. (AFP Photo/Alain Jocard)

Brisbane, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz met with world leaders on Sunday at the close of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in the Australian city of Brisbane, as the leaders approved a number of measures designed to add more than 2 trillion US dollars to the global economy by 2018, and stabilize global energy markets.

Prince Salman—who was representing Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz at the summit—met with several leaders including British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President François Hollande, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the close of the summit, stressing King Abdullah’s continued desire to augment already friendly and warm relations between Riyadh and Paris, London and Berlin.

The Crown Prince—who is also the Kingdom’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense—also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, congratulating him on being elected to the post in May, and stressing the importance Saudi Arabia attached to its deep and historic relationship with New Delhi.

Meanwhile, a joint communiqué released by the leaders of the G20—whose countries account for 85 percent of global economy—said they had agreed on a series of measures to boost their collective GDP by 2.1 percent by 2018, which they said would add 2 trillion dollars to the global economy.

The leaders said an integral part of this plan involved stabilizing global energy markets by improving worldwide energy efficiency. The communiqué said “strong and resilient energy markets” were critical for ensuring global economic growth, and approved a plan to improve efficiency in the use and financing of fossil fuels.

“We reaffirm our commitment to [rationalize] and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, [recognizing] the need to support the poor,” the communiqué said.