Julian Weinberg participates in the Think20 Inception Conference, Saudi Arabia 17-23 January

Julian Weinberg, Political Dialogues Director, visited Saudi Arabia 17-23 January to participate in the Think20 Inception Conference 19-20 January.  While in Riyadh, Julian held meetings with government officials and academics.

Saudi Arabia assumed the Presidency of the G20 this year, and the Think20 forms part of the agenda of activities of the G20.   Aiming to strengthen the participatory process of the G20, the G20 leaders committed to receiving recommendations from international civil society organisations.  Julian was invited to participate within the Think20 (T20) which is responsible for connecting and collaborating with regional and international think tanks.

 The T20 has been a feature of previous G20 processes in Japan and Argentina and is said to serve as the ‘ideas bank’ of the G20, providing research-based policy recommendations to the G20.

 Julian also held meetings with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shura Council of Saudi Arabia, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies and the Gulf Cooperation Council to discuss developments in the region and Forward Thinking’s work.