Saudi Arabia’s proactive COVID-19 measures helped cushion impact: King Salman

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman inaugurated through a virtual session the first year of the eighth session of the Shura Council on Wednesday, Nov. 11, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The session was also attended by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The session began with the reading of versus from the Holy Quran, after which the Speaker of the Shura Council, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sheikh, and the members of the Majlis took oath to honor the royal order appointing them to the Council at its eighth session.

Following this, King Salman addressed meeting, including in his speech matter of internal and external policy of the Kingdom. Below are excerpts from the speech:

King Salman said the start of coronavirus pushed Saudi Arabia to ensure quick precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. This meant Hajj this year was performed by limited numbers of pilgrims and under the highest safety measures.

The government, with its proactive and precautionary measures, has been able to reduce the economic and health impact of COVID-19 on citizens and residents, and also contain the number of cases in the country.

King Salman also thanked all state agencies and their teams that are working to combat the pandemic.

He said as part of the measures to cushion the impact of COVID-19, more than SAR 218 billion was allocated to support the private sector.

The health sector in the Kingdom was allocated SAR 47 billion to fight the pandemic.

The government also supported international efforts to contain the effects of the pandemic through financial support the World Health Organization (WHO).

Saudi Arabia’s presidency this year of the G20 -- under the current circumstances -- is an opportunity to lead global efforts to reform the economic system in order to achieve sustainable economic and social development for the region and the world, King Salman said.

He added that the country is looking forward to holding the G20 summit this month.

King Salman also noted the efforts of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies – referred to as OPEC+ -- towards stabilizing the global oil markets.

The Kingdom has also made progress in digital competitiveness over the past three years, and this comes within the government’s policies to support the communications and information technology sector, King Salman said. It also reflects the qualitative leaps the Kingdom has made in terms of digital infrastructure, digital capacity development, and mega digital projects.

In the field of humanitarian and development aid, the Kingdom has provided over the past three decades more than $86 billion in humanitarian aid, from which 81 countries have benefited, King Salman said.