July 16, 2022
On behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister, chaired Jeddah Security and Development Summit in the presence of the leaders and heads of delegations of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the Arab States, the United States of America, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Republic of Iraq.
At the outset of the session, verses from the Holy Quran were recited.
His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz delivered a speech.
The following is the text:
Your Majesties, Excellencies, and Highnesses
I welcome you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and convey to you the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and his wishes for success for this summit.
Our meeting today comes at a time when our region and the world are facing major challenges, which call for intensifying cooperation within the framework of the principles of the United Nations Charter, which is based on respect for the sovereignty and values of states, non-interference in the internal affairs of others, and respect for their independence and territorial integrity.
We hope that this summit will establish a new era of cooperation, deepen the strategic partnership between our countries and the United States of America, serve our common interests, and enhance security and development in this region for the whole world.
Your Majesties, Excellencies, and Highnesses
The significant challenges that the world has recently faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical situation call for more concerted international efforts to recover the global economy and achieve food and health security.
Moreover, the environmental challenges that the world is currently facing, especially climate change, and the international community's determination to maintain the Earth's temperature per the levels set by the Paris Agreement require dealing with it realistically and responsibly to achieve sustainable development, by adopting a "balanced approach" through a gradual and responsible transition towards more sustainable energy sources that take into account the circumstances and priorities of each country.
The adoption of unrealistic policies to reduce emissions by excluding major sources of energy without taking into account the resulting impact of these policies on the social and economic pillars of sustainable development and global supply chains will lead in the coming years to unprecedented inflation, rise in energy prices, increase unemployment and exacerbate serious social and security problems, including an increase in poverty and famine and crime rates, extremism and terrorism.
We reiterate that the growth of the global economy is closely linked to benefiting from all available energy sources in the world, including hydrocarbons while controlling their emissions through clean technologies, which enhances the possibility of the world reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 or before while maintaining the security of energy supplies.
Therefore, the Kingdom has adopted a balanced approach to achieving net-zero emissions by following the circular carbon economy approach in line with its development plans and enabling its economic diversification without affecting growth and supply chains, while developing technologies with global participation to address emissions through the “Saudi Green" and “Middle East Green" initiatives to support these efforts locally and regionally.
We also stress the importance of continuing to inject and encourage investments in fossil energy and its clean technologies over the next two decades to meet the growing global demand, with the importance of assuring investors that the policies adopted do not pose a threat to their investments to avoid their reluctance to invest and to ensure that no shortage of energy supply would affect the international economy.
The Kingdom will do its part in this regard, as it announced an increase in its production capacity to 13 million barrels per day, after which the Kingdom will not have any additional capacity to increase production.
Your Majesties and Excellencies
The future of the region we seek requires adopting a vision that prioritizes the achievement of security, stability, and prosperity, based on mutual respect among the countries of the region, strengthening common cultural and social bonds, and confronting security and political challenges, toward achieving comprehensive economic development.
We call on Iran, as a neighboring country, with which we share religious and cultural ties, to cooperate with the countries of the region to be part of this vision, by adhering to the principles of international legitimacy, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and fulfilling its obligations in this regard.
As an extension of the Kingdom's vision to achieve security and stability in the region, the Kingdom has supported all efforts to reach a Yemeni-Yemeni political solution, per the three references. The Kingdom has also made efforts to consolidate the current truce, and we will continue to provide humanitarian aid to the brotherly Yemeni people.
We stress that the prosperity of the region requires expediting finding a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, per the initiatives and resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative.
We are pleased with the recent improvement in Iraq's security and stability, which will be reflected in its brotherly people's prosperity, and its positive interaction with its Arab and regional surroundings. Hence, we commend the signing of the two electricity interconnection agreements between the Kingdom and Iraq, as well as with the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, as this will contribute to providing Iraq's need for electricity. We also underline the ongoing electricity interconnection projects between the Kingdom, Egypt, and Jordan
Achieving security, stability, and prosperity in the region requires finding realistic political solutions to other crises, especially in Syria and Libya, to ensure an end to the suffering of their two brotherly peoples.
Your Majesties, Excellencies, and Highnesses
We are optimistic that this summit will lead to laying out a comprehensive framework for a new phase in which we give hope to the young men and women of the region for a bright future in which they will be able to realize their hopes and deliver to the rest of the world our noble message and values, of which we are proud and will never abandon, and we hope the world respects them as we respect other values in a way that enhances our partnerships and serves our region and the world.
The Crown Prince's speech was followed by other speeches delivered by their Majesties and Excellencies, and Highnesses, the State leaders, and heads of delegations of the participating countries.
At the conclusion of the summit, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister expressed his thanks to their Majesties, Excellencies, and Highnesses, leaders, and heads of delegations of countries for their presence and effective participation in the summit, which reflected the depth of the strong relations that bind the countries together and with the United States of America, which is an extension and continuation of decades of close strategic ties.
HRH the Crown Prince said: “We commend the keenness witnessed by this summit to continue progress and cooperation, while enhancing our joint work process in facing regional and international challenges, in all political, economic, security, environmental, climatic, health and other fields, looking forward to continuing cooperation between our countries, to achieve security, peace, stability, and prosperity for the whole world."
The Kingdom's official delegation at the summit included HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy, HRH Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd, Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet, HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Minister of Sports, HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef, Minister of Interior, HRH Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Minister of the National Guard, HRH Princess Rima bint Bandar bin Sultan, The Kingdom's Ambassador to the United States of America, HRH Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of State, Cabinet Member and National Security Adviser, Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban.
