Queen Máxima of the Netherlands spoke to the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday at the G20. Queen Máxima is at the G20 in her role as special ambassador to the United Nations for inclusive financing. The G20 will take place in Saudi Arabia next year.
Queen Máxima and the Crown Prince spoke about continuing the Women 20 (W20), which means to improve the inclusive economic growth for women. It stands on three pillars: access to financial services, digital connection and labour participation. Queen Máxima also met with David Malpass – President of the World Bank – and Christine Lagarde – Managing Director and Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund.
Queen Máxima was also present at a grand dinner thrown by the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Osaka Geihinkan on Friday night.
Queen Máxima held a short speech at the “Women Empowerment” event for the G20. For this event, women from all over the world from the public and private sector gather to speak about inclusive economic growth for women worldwide. Ivanka Trump was also there, and she posted on Instagram on how she was looking forward to meeting Queen Máxima. Queen Máxima also shook hands with Ivanka’s father, Donald Trump.
“All of us have an extraordinary opportunity to unleash the economic potential of women. If women had an identical role in the labour market as men, up to 28 trillion dollars would be added to the global GDP by 2025,” Queen Máxima said. She called for the removal of legal barriers and restrictions on the freedom of movement. “These hurdles, among others, contribute to a staggering 7-percent in global account ownership between men and women. It is really necessary to close this gap for women to be economically empowered.”
Queen Máxima will also meet with several governmental representatives about improving women’s access to financial services.
