2020blogSaudi

The G20 ministers responsible for the digital economy - including of Saudi Arabia - held a virtual meeting on Thursday to discuss the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Screenshot/G20) RIYADH: The G20 ministers responsible for the digital economy held a virtual meeting on Thursday to discuss the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministers vowed to work together to deliver on the commitment to leverage digital technologies made at the extraordinary virtual summit on G20 leaders on March 26, held under Saudi Arabia’s presidency. Volume 90% “We emphasize the promising role of digital technologies and relevant digital policies to strengthen and accelerate our collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to enhance our ability to prevent and mitigate future crises,” the ministers said in a final communiqué following their meeting on Thursday. “We will work together on an urgent basi...

RIYADH: A coronavirus testing requirement program for health facilities in the private sector has been launched by the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests determine whether someone is infected with the novel coronavirus, and the program was launched in order to increase the number of laboratories that are capable of dealing with coronavirus sample testing. Abdullah Al-Gwizani, executive director general of the center, said: “These efforts aim to expand the scale of COVID-19 PCR testing.” 

Screenshot showing participants of a virtual meeting called by the Islamic Development Bank Group on Friday. RIYADH: Dr. Bandar Hajjar, president of the Islamic Development Bank Group, on Friday hosted a virtual meeting with the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and 10 other multilateral development banks (MDBs). Hajjar said it was important to have open dialogue and a results-oriented shared vision between forum members, particularly in drawing up an effective response to the health, economic and financial challenges posed by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in member countries. Lauding the momentum of solidarity created by the international community toward the elimination of COVID-19, participants stressed that the pandemic should not allow focus to be shifted away from realizing the collectively developed 2030 Agenda. Hajjar said: “As we enter the decade of action toward the 2030 Agenda, MDBs need to showcase their collective crucial role in...

JEDDAH: The Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) has launched several initiatives aimed at keeping people active in their homes during the COVID-19 lockdown. One of the most successful has been the “Move to Donate” initiative — launched in collaboration with Saudi Food Bank (SFB) at the start of Ramadan— which rewards people’s activities by delivering food baskets to those most in need. “It is a really straightforward and easy thing,” SFA President Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, told Arab News. “You move, we donate. You already work out at home, right? Pledge to continue working out and we donate. You don’t work out yet? Join us and take the pledge, and we donate. The more you move — and it is literally as simple as taking a 15-minute walk in your home — the more you benefit and this benefit helps SFB through donations. We need you all to join and pledge; let’s make ‘Move To Donate’ a record-breaker for the Saudi Food Bank.” Prince Khaled said the SFA will continue t...

beIN Media Group, a Qatar-based sport network, has long claimed beoutQ is stealing its signal and broadcasting it as its own [Naseem Zeitoon/Reuters] Saudi Arabia has been placed on a "Priority Watch List" for the second year running, in a report published by the United States, mostly due to extensive piracy carried out through its beoutQ channel system in the kingdom. The  report , published on Thursday by the US Trade Representative (USTR), identifies Saudi Arabia as one of only 10 countries that fail to protect and enforce intellectual property (IP) around the world. Other countries include China, India and Indonesia. The USTR has also ordered an "Out-of-Cycle Review" into Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. The review is a USTR tool which allows the government to increase its efforts to try and solve the identified IP issues. "The United States continues to remain concerned about reportedly high levels of online piracy in Saudi Arabia, particularly...