RIYADH: Saudi Shoura Council Speaker Dr. Abdullah Al-Asheikh will head the Kingdom’s delegation at the 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament. The two-day event will begin on Aug. 19. It has been convened at the invitation of the president of the Austrian National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, and the president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Gabriela Cuevas Barron. The conference will be held via videoconferencing under the overarching theme: Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet. The virtual meeting will be part of the series of high-level meetings leading up to the summit for the 75th anniversary of the UN in September 2020. Al-Asheikh said the participation of Saudi Arabia in this important event reflects its keenness to work with the international community to ensure sustainable development and global peace. It also highlights the Kingdom’s positions on current issues, the efforts it is exerting in combating terrorism, and promoting human rights, he said in a statement. “The Shoura Council attaches great importance to parliamentary diplomacy due to its role in supporting the Kingdom’s foreign policy efforts. Parliamentary diplomacy plays an important role in developing and strengthening the Kingdom’s relations with the rest of the world,” Al-Asheikh said. The Shoura Council speaker also highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts in checking the spread of the coronavirus. He said the measures taken by the Kingdom, especially during this year’s Hajj season, contributed greatly to spare humanity a wider spread of the virus. The participants of the meeting will discuss various issues such as climate change, good governance, economic growth, and the role of parliaments in the fight against terrorism. The conference will build on the outcomes from the previous sessions and further reinforce the parliamentary dimension of global governance.