Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud spoke on the Kingdom’s economy, oil, Iran, and U.S. ties at Davos.
Speaking at a panel at the World Economic Forum, he said the Saudi-US partnership on energy was the “key to global recovery.”
The foreign minister said the current oil price stability in the market showed that Saudi Arabia was correct in its decision to take a stance during last year’s disagreement with the U.S. over the OPEC+ decision to reduce oil output targets.
There was opposition from the U.S. when OPEC+ decided to reduce output. The Saudi minister said that the Kingdom still has a strong relationship with the U.S., even if the two do not “always agree.”
“Energy security is absolutely key. And here what we feel in the kingdom is that stability is absolutely the key to that energy security. So one of what we believe the successes of, for instance, OPEC+ has been it has been able to deliver a relatively stable oil price, one that is predictable by both consumers and producers,” he said.
He said a decision by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to focus on their economies and development was a “strong signal to Iran and others in the region that there is a pathway beyond traditional arguments and disputes towards joint prosperity”.
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said during a Davos panel that the Kingdom is “becoming a bright spot for the world economy.”
A World Economic Forum panel looked at how Saudi Arabia’s economy is navigating global challenges, including energy insecurity and supply chain fragmentation.
Georgieva said she was impressed with the Saudi economy, which the IMF said last year leads its world economic growth outlook projections for 2023 out of all Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries.
“When I visited Saudi Arabia, I was incredibly impressed by the progress that the country has made in implementing Vision 2030 and becoming a bright spot for the world economy,” she said. “And that is happening in a particularly difficult time for the world.”
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