By Saleh Kh. Alfaiz, Charge d' Affaires at Saudi Embassy
On this auspicious occasion marking the National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I would like to express my profound appreciation to the Korea IT Times for the courtesy accorded to me to be able to convey my sincerest greetings of friendship to the Korean people.
The present united and modern state of Saudi Arabia was founded on the first day of the sign of Libra 1351 H corresponding to 23rd September 1932 which became the National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A day the nation celebrates and rejoices as it recalls with pride the deeds of the founder, King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud as he completed the unification of the divided country and proclaimed a United Kingdom ruled by the tenets of Islam.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz was proclaimed the sixth King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the first day of August 2005.
Since then, King Abdullah has adopted a series of domestic and international policies that have brought positive impacts on not only Saudi Arabia but also the international community as a whole. Among these are the Kingdom's measures in fighting terrorism, holding international conferences on energy supply, international crimes and environment problems, and others. Under the patronage of His Majesty, the World Muslim Congress for Dialogue was held by the Muslim World League (MWL) in Mecca from May 31 to June 2, 2008 in order to increase mutual understanding among divine religions.
The moderate and balanced Saudi policy, under the distinguished leadership of King Abdullah, led the Kingdom to play a leading role in the Islamic world, and succeeded in achieving the prosperity and welfare of its people, and provided a helping hand to all those who are in need.
Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1962, Saudi Arabia has been committed to the development of bilateral relations with Korea through cooperation in various fields. Saudi has been one of Korea's main alliances, actively supporting Korea's position on various fields including peaceful reunification of the two Koreas, as well as being Korea's largest oil supplier and one of the largest trading partners among the Arab countries. The Republic of Korea stands as one of the 10 largest trading partners of the Kingdom with a bilateral trade totaling $ 39 billion in 2008.
Such close relationship has been greatly cemented through visits of high-ranking officials and head of states of both countries. The highest of which was the visit by His Excellency Roh Moo-hyun, the late former President, to the Kingdom in March 2007. There were numerous visits by high-ranking officials of both countries in 2009. Some major visits are as follows;
- The visit of H.E. Abdullah Alsheeha, Minister of Higher Education in June
- The visit of H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Jafary, Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission in June
- The visit of His Royal Highness Abdulrahman bin Fahd Al-Faisal Al-Saud, Commander of Royal Saudi Air Force in May
- The visit of His Excellency Dr. Mohamad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, General Secretary of Majlis Ash Shura to Korea on the occasion of Secretaries General Forum of Asia Pacific Parliaments held during 7-11 July 2009 in Seoul
- The visit of H.E. Ahmad Saeed Al-Zahrani, Captain of Naval Force in July
- The visit of His Excellency Honorable Park Jin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee of the National Assembly to the Kingdom in May 2009
- The visit of His Excellency Lim Chae-jin, then Prosecutor General, to the Kingdom in March 2009
Such friendly bond and cooperation between the two countries are reflected by the numerous agreements signed in various fields including technology, culture, aviation, investment, education and other more.
There were visits of 10 members Saudi Youth Delegation to Korea during July and August as part of agreement signed between the two countries in 1981. Since 1981 to 2008, the total of 489 youth delegations from both countries exchanged visits every year.
Also, the Saudi Youth Handball Team visited Korea in July, following the Saudi National Soccer Squad in June for the World Cup qualifier match against Korea's National Football Team, held on June 10, 2009.
Among the significant development in cultural field was the Arab Cultural Festival, organized by the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has been held annually in Seoul since 2008. In 2008, the Saudi Folklore Arts Band introduced for the first time in Korea in the Arab Cultural Festival the unique Saudi traditional dance. For this year, Saudi Arabia presented traditional craftworks as well as the beauty of Arabic letters through its calligraphy exhibition, a collection of contemporary art works by thee renowned Saudi calligraphers. Furthermore, Saudi Cultural Festival was held in at the Korean Center for Arab and Islamic Culture, Incheon City during October and November 2008.
Both countries have also witnessed a big leap in the exchanges in education field as well. Since March 2007, when the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in higher education, more than 70 Saudi students, funded by the Saudi government, have been studying in some of renowned Korean universities under King Abdullah Scholarship Program. No doubt, students of both countries will gain priceless opportunities to broaden their views and promote exchanges between the two countries. This year, the Cultural Attaché resumed his duty to head the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission in Seoul, to supervise the Saudi students, under the umbrella of the Royal Embassy.
There are plenty of factors that make Saudi Arabia the right place for investment and joint venture projects. With its vast resources and the strong governmental support for attracting foreign investment, Saudi Arabia has become one of the main investment destinations not only in the Middle East region but also in the world. One of the recent UN report ranked Saudi Arabia the 18th in the world for attracting foreign direct investment. Moreover, located at the heart of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has long been the center and the entrance gate to the Middle East market.
Mutual cooperation between Korea and Saudi Arabia in the research and advanced technology will be very beneficial for both countries as the Kingdom is especially eager to attract human resources, intellectuals and new technology from abroad.
In this regard, I would like to invite Korean businessmen and companies to participate once again in the development of the Kingdom by joining hands with their Saudi counterparts in investment and other various fields to open a new and more vigorous era of economic cooperation and partnership between the two countries.
Finally, I am deeply touched by the hospitality and warmth of the Korean people. I trust and hope that efforts will be further intensified to boost the constantly deepening relationship between our two countries founded on the spirit of peace, progress and prosperity for all mankind.
