King Salman in Turkey to attend G-20 summit

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman arrived in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya on Thursday evening, leading Saudi Arabia’s delegation at the G-20 summit.

Earlier, before leaving Riyadh, the King deputized Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, to administer the State’s affairs and take care of the interests of the people during his absence from the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting a royal decree.

At Antalya airport, the King was received by Turkish Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci, Antalya Governor Muammar Turker, Saudi Ambassador to Turkey Dr. Adil Murad Mirdad, and other senior officials and diplomats.  Earlier, King Salman was seen off at the King Salman Air Base Airport in Riyadh by Prince Muqrin, the crown prince,  Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, Minister of the National Guard Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah, and several other princes, ministers and high ranking civilian and military officials.

The delegation accompanying the King included the deputy crown prince, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir, Minister of Economy and Planning Adel Al-Fakieh, and Minister of Commerce and Industry Tawfiq Al-Rabiah.

Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies (G20) are to meet on Sunday and Monday at Regnum Carya Hotel Convention Center in Antalya primarily to discuss global economic issues. The summit is also expected to discuss major Mideast issues, including Syrian and Iraq conflicts, especially the spiraling migrant crisis.

Antalya summit will be the tenth annual meeting of the G-20 heads of government.

The southwestern city of Antalya is the most visited destination in Turkey and the tenth in the world. Turkey officially took over the presidency of the G-20 from Australia in Dec. 1, 2014 and China will preside over the organization in 2016.

The G-20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. The members include 19 individual countries plus the European Union.

It was founded in 1999 with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.

Collectively, the G-20 economies account for around 85 percent of the gross world product, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world population.