TAIF, 24 July 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah laid the foundation stone of a SR10 billion science and technology university in Taif yesterday afternoon. The new university will be known as King Abdullah Science and Technology University.
King Abdullah also laid the foundation for a number of developmental projects in the region at a function organized at the temporary Taif project headquarters.
Underlying the paramount importance of higher education in science and technology-related subjects, the king said earlier on Saturday, “The university will be one of the best internationally distinguished centers of scientific research and invention. It will have faculties staffed by scientists of the highest intellectual caliber drawn from different parts of the world. The university will also be a channel for interaction between diverse peoples and civilizations. It will serve as a beacon of scientific studies benefiting not only the Kingdom but the Arab and Muslim nations as well.”
The king added, “We are living in an era of scientific and technological advancement. There is no real power without achieving progress in science and technology. Anyone failing to achieve excellence in these subjects will be marginalized. The new university will aim at achieving excellence in science and technology.”
Speaking about the Taif university project, Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari said the university campus will be built on an area over 12 million square meters and will comprise eight faculties specializing in medicine, applied medical sciences, computer and information system studies, science, finance, management, pharmacology, engineering, social sciences and education with a capacity of 13,000 students of both genders.
The campus will also include a 200-bed hospital, which will be built at a cost of SR1 billion. The higher education minister explained that the first phase of the university will include the development of the general location of the university and the infrastructure, and building the faculties of science, education, medicine, applied medical sciences, engineering, pharmacology and the hospital.
Other developmental projects initiated by the king at yesterday’s function were related to the sectors of labor, health and transport. They include a college of technology, another college for leisure and tourism, a women’s higher institute of technology and an institute of vocational training in Taif and another in Maysan at a cost of SR300 million. All these institutes are to be run by the Labor Ministry. The king also granted permission to start work on a 12-kilometer two-way road between Hada and Al-Kar at a cost of SR198 million and an 18-kilometer Taif ring road that will cost SR49 million.
As the king arrived at the venue, two young children welcomed him with bouquets of flowers while several others showered rose petals on the route the king was taking.
King Abdullah, who arrived in Taif on Saturday afternoon on a regional tour, received a number of distinguished scholars, high officials, tribal chiefs and military officers including the chairman of the Ulema Council and the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah Al-Asheikh and also the chairman of the Higher Judicial Council Sheikh Saleh Al-Lehaidan.The king thanked the people of Taif for their warm welcome and wishing them success ordered officials to minimize the celebrations to mark his arrival and to remember the sufferings of the Lebanese and Palestinian people who are being attacked by Israel.
