Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Thursday participated in the Group of 20 (G20) Foreign Ministers’ meeting that took place virtually under the presidency of Saudi Arabia. The UAE attended the virtual Foreign Ministers’ meeting in its capacity as a guest invitee at the G20 Summit scheduled to take place in November 2020 in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

During the meeting, foreign ministers of the participating nations discussed various cross-border management measures taken by world governments to tackle the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with this, the meeting also focused on exchanging experiences against the pandemic, discussing significant lessons learned during the crisis and strengthening global preparedness framework against future risks.

Appreciating the efforts made by Saudi Arabia in convening the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah highlighted that the meeting provides a crucial platform to ensure synergy between world governments and international institutions to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across all fronts.

Addressing the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah welcomed Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud and the president of the current session of the G20 meeting, along with Foreign Ministers of other participating countries. He expressed confidence in gaining productive outcomes through the upcoming G20 Summit in November.

''As we approach the Riyadh Leaders’ Summit in November, I am confident that this year’s G20 Summit will lead to productive outcomes, should we maintain the momentum that has carried us forward so far. Under the distinguished Saudi Presidency’s guidance, the UAE will continue to work with G20 countries and other invited guests towards this goal, and to ensure that a strong message of unity emerges out of the Summit,'' Sheikh Abdullah said.

As per a statement issued to the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah spoke about the exceptional measures taken by the UAE to contain the spread of Coronavirus across the country and the globe.

"At the onset of the pandemic, the UAE immediately suspended all incoming and outgoing flights, accelerated strict procedures at all border crossings, suspended the issuances of all visas, and ensured there were sufficient cross-border controls in place to minimize movement," he said.

In addition, he stated that the UAE has started gradual easing of the restrictions since June only after reviewing that the COVID-19 has been brought under control in the country. Sheikh Abdullah added that the restrictions have been eased out in a bid to revive the economy after months of shutdown and to reduce the challenges faced by UAE citizens and residents stuck abroad. More than 700,000 residents have managed to come home to the UAE after restrictions were loosened.

Speaking about the UAE's leading in facilitating the repatriation of citizens, Sheikh Abdullah stated that the UAE is the home to the world’s busiest international airport, two of the world’s leading airlines, and a very large expatriate population. Amid the pandemic recovery, the UAE initiated approximately 2,000 repatriation flights through the country for the welfare of those in need.

He further highlighted a few lessons that the UAE learnt from its experiences during the fight against COVID-19.

First, Sheikh Abdullah said that there is a need to think more about contingency planning, which will help in better preparedness to deal with global challenges of the likes of the COVID-19 pandemic in the future and in a more coordinated response against them.

"By contrast, globally, our initial responses to COVID-19 were relatively haphazard and ad-hoc, without enough consideration of their impact on people often stranded far away from home or their families," he added.

Secondly, the minister said that there is need to consider potential ways of improving essential international travel in view of the ongoing pandemic.

"In the UAE, we have worked hard to ensure that our international airports are fit for purpose and provided with state of the art machinery for the purpose of preventing and identifying COVID-19 cases,'' he explained.

Thirdly, Sheikh Abdullah called for fair and equal treatment of citizens of all countries, irrespective of where they are coming from or travelling to.

Fourth, he said that there is a need to enhance public awareness and effective communication with the citizens such that there is a widespread understanding of the rationale behind the COVID-19 policies of the government.

"Such communication is necessary to ensure buy-in and acceptance and the sense that we are all on one team, especially given how onerous and challenging some of these policies may have been for some individuals, families and small businesses," the Minister added.

The G20 represents a significant forum for participating governments to address these challenging and to foster international cooperation on measures to enhance cross-border management. Noting this, Sheikh Abdullah expressed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia for convening the meeting as well as for its distinguished leadership throughout the entire G20 process in this difficult and challenging year.

Ahead of the Leaders’ Summit in November in Riyadh, G20 Members and invited countries have taken part in over 14 Ministerial meetings, 49 Working Group meetings and 36 side events. Significantly, the first-ever G20 Leaders’ Virtual Summit took place on March 26 in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic. During the virtual Summit, the participating countries express their commitment towards taking decisive actions on key sectors including the economy, health, trade, and investment.

The UAE was invited by Saudi Arabi in December 2019 in its capacity as current Chair of the GCC in a bid to participate in this year's G20 process. Under Saudi Arabia's president, this year's G20 Summit will take place with the theme "Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century for All," aimed at "Empowering People, Safeguarding the Planet, and Shaping New Frontiers."

G20 Summit was established in 1999 as an annual gathering of representatives of the largest economies in the world with the aim to strengthen and enhance international economic cooperation.

WAM