RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will participate in the fifth UN Conference on the least developed countries, which is being hosted in Doha from March 5 to 9. The Kingdom’s Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal bin Fadel Al-Ibrahim is leading the country’s delegation at the conference where he will be delivering a speech. The delegation also includes representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Saudi Fund for Development, the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen, and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center. Throughout the conference, the Kingdom’s delegation is set to take part in a number of plenary sessions and high-level meetings, in addition to hosting as many as three side events. Meanwhile, Al-Ibrahim is scheduled to hold meetings with senior officials to discuss areas of cooperation to promote economic development in the least developed countries. During the conference, new initiatives are expected to be announced to help address the challenges facing least-developed countries. The Kingdom is a major contributor in providing development assistance to many of the least developed countries, in line with the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Saudi Arabia ranked first among donor countries in offering official development assistance to low and medium-income countries, with a total of SR26.71 billion ($7.12 billion), revealed Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, citing data published by Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The data showcased the official 2021 development assistance offered by donor countries — member states and states with associate memberships at DAC, where the Paris-based committee is considered the biggest forum. Al-Rabeeah said that this assistance constitutes 1.05 percent of Saudi Arabia’s gross national income, the Saudi Press Agency reported. He added that by this proportion the Kingdom has topped the donor countries and surpassed the target approved by the UN General Assembly in October 1970. This stipulated that donor countries should allocate 0.7 percent of their gross national income as official development assistance while seeking innovative sources of financing development in developing countries.