Saudi Arabia to aid global coronavirus fight

Cairo: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman reviewed global efforts to combat the pandemic of the new coronavirus in a phone conversation with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Saudi news agency has reported.

Spain is among the countries hardest hit by an outbreak of the Covid-19 outside China where the highly infectious disease originated.

Sanchez made the call to Prince Mohammad who emphasised the kingdom’s keenness to coordinate international cooperation to fight the pandemic and adopt “appropriate policies” to cushion its economic consequences as part of Saudi Arabia’s current presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), the agency said.

Heads of state of the world’s top developed and emerging economies are scheduled to gather in the Saudi capital Riyadh in November for their G20 summit, the first of its kind in the Arab region.

G20 countries make up about two-thirds of the global population, 85 per cent of its gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of trade.