RIYADH • Saudi Arabia will host the Group of 20 (G-20) summit on Saturday in a first for an Arab nation, but the scaled-down virtual format could limit debate on a resurgent coronavirus pandemic and crippling economic crisis.
The two-day meeting of the world's wealthiest nations follows a bitter United States election disputed by President Donald Trump and comes amid criticism over what campaigners call the group's inadequate response to the worst recession in decades.
Held under the shadow of a raging pandemic, the summit, which is usually an opportunity for one-on-one engagements between world leaders, has been reduced to brief online sessions on pressing global issues - from climate change to growing inequality.
Discussions are expected to be dominated by the "implications of the pandemic" and "steps for reviving the global economy", sources close to the Saudi organisers said.
New vaccine breakthroughs have raised hopes of containing the virus, which has infected 55 million people globally and left 1.3 million dead.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development projects that global economic output will contract by 4.5 per cent this year.
G-20 nations have contributed more than US$21 billion (S$28 billion) to combat the pandemic - including production and distribution of vaccines - and injected US$11 trillion to safeguard the virus-battered world economy, organisers said. But the group faces mounting pressure to help stave off possible credit defaults across developing nations.
Last week, G-20 finance ministers declared a "common framework" for an extended debt restructuring plan for virus-ravaged countries, but campaign group ActionAid described the measure as "woefully inadequate".
Mistrust between member states has hampered coordination, with a US Treasury official accusing China - a top creditor to poor countries - of a "lack of full participation" and transparency.
"We are facing the world's largest humanitarian crisis and women in developing countries are bearing the worst impacts of the health and economic fallout," said ActionAid's Katherine Tu. "Yet the G-20 has its head in the sand and is failing to respond to the urgency of the situation."
Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will preside over what some observers call "digital diplomacy". Canada-based G-20 Research Group director John Kirton said the virtual setting could frustrate "spontaneous combustion" among leaders, limiting "encounters on unscheduled subjects".
World leaders, including Germany's Angela Merkel, China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin, are expected to make speeches, the sources said. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be present in Saudi Arabia during the summit. It is unclear whether Mr Trump will speak at the event.
Mr Ryan Bohl, from US geopolitical think-tank Stratfor, said: "Trump's actions at the summit aren't likely to have as much of an effect as they might have in previous years."
The summit was supposed to be a coming-out party for Saudi Arabia on the world stage. It had planned a grand event showcasing the ambitious modernisation drive of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose international reputation was tarnished by the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a team of Saudis allegedly directed by the Crown Prince's right-hand men.
Meanwhile, the country's human rights record has overshadowed the event, with campaigners urging leaders to boycott the summit - or press for answers.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
