G20 Summit: World leaders called for …

During the first day of G20 summit world leaders call for coordinated response to deal with coronavirus. The pandemic forced the summit to limit itself to short online sessions, whose organization was in charge of Saudi Arabia. The reunion of the richest countries came amid criticism of the slow group reaction to global recession. This time there was no grand opening ceremony and there will also be no opportunity to conclude bilateral agreements. Covid-19, which already killed more than 1.37 million people, gave the G20 the opportunity to show that it can facilitate international cooperation in the face of the crisis. However also exposed its limitations.

Saudi Arabia is the first Arab country to host the event. “We have an obligation to rise to this challenge during the Summit and to deliver a strong message of hope and relief.Saudi King Salman said. The pandemic has had a major economic impact on developing countries, but it has also devastated some of the wealthiest nations. Nine of the G20 members lead the ranking of infections in the world. The United States tops the list, followed by India, Brazil, France, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, Argentina and Italy, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Three G20 leaders attending the summit have been infected with coronavirus this year: US President Donald Trump; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson; and the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro. The virus has reappeared with force around the world, particularly in the United States and Europe, where restrictions, including quarantines, have been reinstated. According to the WHO, in the past four weeks, more cases of the coronavirus have been reported than in the first six months of the pandemic. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has said that the advance of the virus lost the equivalent of 225 million jobs in the countries of G20 during the first four months of 2020. Members of this group generate 85% of the world’s wealth and concentrate three quarters of all international trade.

Speaking at the summit, the President of Russia Vladimir Poutine He reaffirmed his country’s readiness to provide its vaccines to anyone who needed it. “There is no doubt that drugs for immunization should be in the public domain. Of course, our country is ready to provide the vaccines manufactured by our scientists to those who need them.“, said the President. The President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der LeyenHe said he asked the group to invest more money to speed up vaccine development and production. “Vaccines will help the world overcome the pandemic. At the G20 summit, I called for a $ 4.5 billion investment in ACT-Accelerator by the end of 2020», Wrote the president of the European executive on Twitter.

Several leaders have sent messages calling for better global coordination against the pandemic. “Encouraging developments on vaccines in recent weeks could offer a way out of obscurityBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. G20 countries have already spent more than $ 21 billion to fight the coronavirus. Some $ 11 trillion to save the world economy, organizers say.