ArabianBusiness.com - Middle East Business News
Thursday, 08 January 2009 10:13 UAE time

YOUR DIRECTORY /

Print this page Print this page | Email this to a friend Email this to a friend | Discuss this article (0 Comments) |

Saudi swats back at Egypt over G20 remarks

by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it  on Wednesday, 26 November 2008
BROTHERLY DISAGREEMENT: Comments by Egypt's finance minister Youssef Boutros Ghali (pictured) have upset Saudi Arabia. (Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia is able to promote Middle Eastern interests at the Group of 20 meetings, it said on Tuesday, rebuffing remarks by Egypt's finance minister that the rich kingdom was unqualified to speak for the region.

Saudi Arabia, the only Arab member of the G20 group of rich nations and key developing states and the IMF's largest Arab shareholder, attended a G20 meeting in Washington this month.

"We are not there to represent any country but ourselves," Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf told Reuters in an interview in the Omani capital. "But traditionally we have always reflected the interest and the concerns of developing nations in general and of Arab nations in particular," he said.

Story continues below
advertisement

"With all due respect to my brother Dr. Ghali [Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali], I'm surprised by his remarks."

Last week, the Egyptian finance minister, when asked whether he was satisfied with Saudi Arabia's presence at the G20 meetings, Boutros-Ghali told a CNN program: "I cannot speak for the region as a whole but I think representation should be through a country that understands the various issues being faced by specific group of nations."

He went on to say it would be preferable to be represented by "a state that shares the same issues as yours and that shares the... challenges you are faced with."

Assaf said Saudi Arabia is part of the G20 because of its status as the largest economy in the Middle East and "a very active player in international financial institutions in addition to the major role it plays in stabilising oil markets."

"If there's a country that understands better than anyone the issue of developing nations, it's Saudi Arabia," he said. (Reuters)

Print Print | Email Email | Discuss this article |


READERS' COMMENTS


Click here to post a comment


Add your Comment
All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *
(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code * Code


Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.


MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM

 EMAIL ALERTS

  1. Politics & Economics



Rich List 2008
EMIRATES ID DOWNLOAD

READER COMMENTS

  1. UAE gov't mulls plan to help redundancy victims 11
    07 Jan ' 09 at 23:45
    Mr Hank couldn't have said it better in a polite way :), I have to agree with him.  More »
  2. Recession in UAE cannot be ruled out - analysts 7
    07 Jan ' 09 at 17:21
    Analysts are always behind the curve, just like ratings agencies only downgrade once it is too late. Why anybody listens to these...  More »
  3. 48 killed in UN-run school inside Gaza 3
    07 Jan ' 09 at 15:04
    I totally agree with previous commenter, as a dual national of US and UK.I am absolutely disgusted that neither of these countries is...  More »
Read all user comments >

BUSINESS FEATURES

Iceland’s financial crisis sends Viking descendants back to Norway for jobs

Almost 1200 years after a viking chief left Norway to found Reykjavik, Iceland's crisis is forcing his descendants home.

White truffle prices collapse

The wealthy pare back on luxuries and charity as the global economic slowdown continues to bite.

Down and out in Beverly Hills: Rolexes, Picassos hit pawnshops

Beverly Loan is a pawnshop that caters to people who hock Cartiers, Harleys and Oscar statuettes.

BUSINESS INTERVIEWS

The business of war

RA International's founder on how a UN secondment developed into an international enterprise.

BT talks up Middle East growth plans

BT is shedding 10,000 jobs but the British telecom operator is performing strongly in the Middle East.

Catch me if you can

EXCLUSIVE: Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra talks to Arabian Business about what he plans to do next.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM