Saudi Arabia committed to regional de-escalation, Finance Minister says

Mohammed Al Jadaan says he doesn't want Israel-Gaza war to derail efforts in building bridges

Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan, left, and his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa at the annual Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh. AFP

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Saudi Arabia is working with partners to ensure the Israel-Gaza war does not derail efforts towards regional de-escalation, Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan said on Wednesday.

“Before October 7, a lot of de-escalation happened, which brought a lot of hope for the region and we don’t want recent events to derail that,” Mr Al Jadaan told a panel session at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.

“We are making a lot of effort with our partners to ensure that we go back to where we were and continue the development path.”

Before the beginning of the conflict this month, the US was trying to broker a landmark diplomatic deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel to establish formal ties under an extension of the Abraham Accords.

The UAE and Bahrain signed deals with Israel in 2020, followed by Morocco and Sudan.

The deals were not conditioned on any significant progress towards a return to the peace process with Palestine.

“It’s extremely important … that we continue to build bridges. The future of this region and its stability and security is built on providing opportunity for all,” Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s Finance Minister, said during the same panel session.

He also said the region needs to move away from divisions based on ethnicity and religion.

“We have to look at the line between those who are looking forward to building and ensure that those are the people that we are empowering ... and on the other side of the line, where there are people who are looking to destroy, that they are not part of writing that future,” Mr Al Khalifa said.

Saudi Arabia is likely to end the year with about 6 per cent growth in its non-oil gross domestic product and hopes to record similar growth in 2024, Mr Al Jadaan said.

Saudi Arabia this year received the biggest downgrade in economic growth forecast among G20 economies by the International Monetary Fund.

The kingdom’s economy is forecast to grow 1.9 per cent this year, instead of 3.1 per cent as previously projected, largely due to oil production cuts and lower oil prices.

Growth in the kingdom is expected to pick up to 2.8 per cent next year, the Washington-based fund said in its World Economic Outlook update.

Meanwhile, Mr Al Jadaan said he was encouraged by US attempts to de-escalate tensions with China, the world’s second-largest economy.

“If you live in a world with an island mentality where you think you can survive alone, that's not practical and it doesn't work,” he said.