Economic summit of Group of Twenty starts

Washington, November 15, SPA -- The Economic Summit of Group of
Twenty (G-20) started here today with the participation of the
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
and the group's leaders.

Upon arrival at the venue, the King was received by President George
W. Bush of the United States of America.

The King delivered the following speech:

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Gracious,

Mr. President George W. Bush,

Your Excellencies, Presidents,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Peace and Allah's mercy and blessings be upon you:

I thank you, Mr. President, for calling for this meeting of this
important group, which is considered the broadest international
forum, looking forward that our meeting will produce positive results
that contribute to addressing this crisis and establishing firm
foundations for the global financial system that will prevent such a
crisis from occurring in the future - God willing.


Ladies and Gentlemen,

For saving time, we asked for distributing our speech in which we
have made clear our position on the raised issues. However, I would
like to refer to some important points. This crisis revealed the
dangers of undisciplined globalization and the weakness of control.
The crisis stresses the importance of strengthening international
coordination and cooperation and the urgent need for development of
control over financial sectors.

The consequences of the crisis indicated a global recession. All
States, according to their conditions, should take necessary and
appropriate policy. We emphasize the importance of taking into
consideration the negative effects of any policies taken by any
country on other countries.

Our region is not immune to the effects of this crisis and the
Kingdom along with Arab countries will strive to strengthen their
economies through the government investment program. We will continue
to play our role for the stability of the oil market, looking forward
to the cooperation of consuming countries through non-targeting oil
with policies that adversely affect it. We will continue our policy
with the help of developing countries. We stress the principle of
equitable burden-sharing of any international efforts exerted to
address the current crisis and its consequences.

In conclusion, we emphasize the importance of the role of the Group
of Twenty, and not to distract efforts by forming groups that we
affirm they will not be more representative and effective than this
group which proved its success in building harmony between developed
and developing countries.

Peace and Allah's mercy and blessings be upon you.