King Abdullah upbeat on economic prospects
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah receives a Saudi student during a function in Washington on Thursday. (SPA)
Published: Jul 2, 2010 23:46 Updated: Jul 2, 2010 23:46
WASHINGTON: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has said that the Saudi economy would remain strong as long as the Kingdom holds large quantities of petrol and other natural resources.
King Abdullah expressed his hope that the Kingdom’s petroleum resources would last long.
“Once while we were in a meeting of the Council of Ministers, I told them, ‘May God give it long life.' They were curious and asked me, ‘What is that?’ I told them, ‘petrol’,” the king said while receiving a group of Saudi students pursuing higher studies in US universities.
“When exploration for underground resources first started, I ordered ending all kinds of exploration because of the existence of oil,” he said. “As long as oil is there, other underground resources should be left for future generations. Your country is rich with natural resources.”
King Abdullah urged the students to work hard to achieve excellence in education. “You have a bright future and your nation and the Ummah are pinning great hopes on you,” the king told the students.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is doing well and its future is prosperous,” King Abdullah said in his brief speech, urging Saudi students to preserve the good reputation they enjoy in all countries of the world.
“You are ambassadors of your homeland. Thank God, your homeland is proceeding resolutely to a prosperous future,” King Abdullah said. “I hope to see you very soon in our country, carrying the torch of knowledge in order to participate in the country’s renaissance and development process."
Muhammad Al-Eissa, Saudi cultural attaché in the US, told the king that the number of Saudi students in America has increased to more than 30,000. About 3,700 of them received benefits of the Foreign Scholarship Program after King Abdullah issued an order that those Saudis pursuing higher studies abroad on their own account could join the program, he said.
King Abdullah, who is on a four-nation tour, arrived in Casablanca on Friday. During his four-day visit to the United States he held talks with President Barack Obama. He will return to the Kingdom in the second week of this month after visiting France. Before going to Washington, the king attended the G20 Summit in Toronto on June 26-27.

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ABDUL
Jul 3, 2010 18:25
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