RIYADH, 26 February 2006 — Delegates representing scientific and academic communities from the Gulf Cooperation Council and Maghreb countries paid a courtesy call on Riyadh Governor Prince Salman prior to opening a conference on bilateral cooperation yesterday.
“It is the religion of Islam that strongly binds Arabs in the GCC and Maghreb countries,” Prince Salman told the delegates who met him at his office here.
Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari opened the Second Maghreb and GCC Conference on Scientific and Academic Cooperation at the King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Research and Archives (KAFRA).
The conference, jointly sponsored by KAFRA and Tunisia’s Tamimi Establishment, will conclude tomorrow.
Prince Salman, who is also the chairman of the KAFRA, said meetings between scholars from the two regions would strengthen understanding between the two peoples.
The prince said he hoped that the meeting would throw light on the historical background of the participating countries with the goal of working out a brighter plan for their respective futures.
“KAFRA’s concern for history stems from its belief that future generations must know about their people and their country. A nation ignorant of its history and heritage will bloom neither in the present nor in the future,” Prince Salman said.
He told the delegates that the foundation adopts programs and activities that aim to preserve historical resources for the reference of researchers from all parts of the globe. Besides Saudi Arabian delegates, representatives from Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain were present to discuss 30 scientific papers in seven sessions.
While inaugurating the conference, Al-Anqari said his ministry assured the delegates of increased cooperation in matters relating to academic affairs of the universities in the Kingdom and the Maghreb countries.
Speaking to Arab News, KAFRA Secretary-General Fahd Al-Semmari said the purpose of the meeting is to provide a platform for the scholars in the two regions to know each other’s historical and academic interests.
“There are many researchers in the GCC whose works are not known to their counterparts in the Maghreb region,” Al-Semmari said.
“We hope to have such exchanges on similar lines with countries of the EU and Latin America, as well as with South Asian regional bodies, such as SAARC and ASEAN,” he said, adding that such intellectual and cultural exchanges will bridge the gap between GCC and other regional organizations in matters of academic and cultural interests.
