Kingdom and Gulf Countries Building Bridges between the East and West: Prince Faisal

• Kingdom does not believe in polarization or choosing between one partner and another.
• “The Kingdom’s economy is rapidly growing, and we need all partners.”
• “Cooperating with a country the size of China will help confront challenges”
• “Saudi Arabia believes in cooperation “with everyone” to achieve mutual interests”

Abu Dhabi: The Kingdom and Gulf countries were working on building bridges between the east and west, Saudi Arabia’ Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah stressed on Sunday while speaking at the World Policy Conference held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

He mentioned the recent Riyadh-hosted China-Arab summits that brought together the leaders of China and the United States as Saudi Arabia’s attempt to build these bridges with global partners.

Riyadh is prioritizing the affairs of developing countries on the global arena, he added.

“We continue to build our partnerships in the global environment in a way that fosters the opportunities for growth and prosperity for all,” Prince Faisal said while highlighting the power of cooperation over the confrontation.

Speaking about the China-Arab Summits that were held in Saudi Arabia last week, the FM said they stem from efforts to increase cooperation with one of the greatest trade partners to the Kingdom and the Arab world.

Holding dialogue with the world’s second greatest economy, China, is very important in continuing to build global partnerships that pave the way for prosperity and development for all parties, he added.

Saudi Arabia, said Prince Faisal, is the world’s 15th greatest economy and it is the world’s fastest growing economy, said the Prince Faisal while highlighting the new policies and initiatives of growth and development launched under Vision2030.

The Kingdom aims to reach one trillion dollars in GDP. “With this growth, comes our increasing interest in the global economy,” he stated. “We want to tackle all the challenges we are facing”, he added.

“We live in a complicated and difficult world. There will always be issues that need to be addressed but the best way to address them is through dialogue, interaction and cooperation and that’s our approach”, Prince Faisal noted.

“Our foreign policy is driven by our need to achieve sustainable prosperity for the Saudi people first and foremost and to the peoples of the region and world,” said Prince Faisal.

“My mandate from my leadership is very clear; Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy is a tool for its domestic prosperity, that is the top priority.”

The FM Prince Faisal also predicted that Saudi Arabia will rise to become one of the world’s top ten economies by 2030, stressing the need to focus on building bridges of cooperation to achieve sustainable prosperity in the region and world.

Earlier, on Friday at China Summit, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince said that the Kingdom does not believe in polarization or choosing between one partner and another.

“We do not believe in in polarization or selecting between one partner and another,” he said, reiterating that the Kingdom will continue to set its policies “based on its own interests”, he added.

He also said “The Kingdom’s economy is rapidly growing, and we need all partners.”

“We have mutual interests with [both] the US and China, and we will continue to work to achieve them,” he added.

Speaking about cooperation with China at the China-Arab and China-Gulf summits held in Riyadh in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the FM Prince Faisal said cooperating with a country the size of China will help confront challenges.

Noting that the Kingdom is “open to everyone,” Prince Faisal said Saudi Arabia believes in cooperation “with everyone” to achieve mutual interests.

The meeting “reflects a mutual desire to enhance Chinese-Gulf cooperation,” Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said during his address at the China-Gulf Summit in the presence of Gulf leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman further said by adding that the summit “establishes a historic new phase of Chinese-Gulf cooperation.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping during his address at historic summit, said that Gulf countries and China could achieve industrial and economic integration, complemented by the establishment of a Chinese investment council with Gulf countries.

Also, Xi Jinping and Crown Prince discussed joint bilateral efforts to strengthen cooperation in various fields as well as regional and international developments. They also held in-depth discussions to establish a Chinese-Gulf free trade zone.

Also, investment agreements of $50 billion were signed during the China- Saudi Arabia summit held in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s investment minister, Khalid Al Falih told Bloomberg on the sidelines of a conference Sunday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

A joint statement was issued encompassing comprehensive cooperative partnership between the, China, the world’s energy largest market, and Saudi Arabia, world’s biggest energy supplier covering short and long term partnership revealing diplomatic, trade, clean energy, water, agriculture and other development projects in the region.

By: Dr.Muhammad Arif, Editor NSN