JEDDAH, 10 April 2006 — Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, held talks in Hong Kong yesterday with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on major regional and international issues with an emphasis on Iraq and Palestine.
Sultan begins his three-day official visit to Singapore today.
“President Saleh held a closed-door meeting with the crown prince, during which they reviewed the latest developments at Arab, Islamic and international levels,” the Saudi Press Agency said, adding that the two leaders also discussed ways of strengthening bilateral ties.
Sultan hosted a luncheon in honor of the Yemeni president. It was attended by Saudi officials including Prince Faisal ibn Sultan, secretary-general of The Sultan Charitable Foundation, Economy and Planning Minister Khaled Al-Gosaibi and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nizar Madani.
Saleh was accompanied by a high-level delegation including Political Adviser Abdul Kareem Al-Iriyani, Foreign Minister Dr. Abubakar Al-Kurbi, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology Abdul Malik Al-Muallami, and Planning and International Cooperation Minister Abdul Kareem Al-Arhabi.
Prince Sultan, who is on an Asian tour, arrived in Hong Kong on Friday on his way to Singapore after visiting Japan. The royal visit to Singapore, which begins today, is expected to strengthen political and economic cooperation between the two countries.
“Crown Prince Sultan is the first high-ranking Saudi official to visit Singapore,” said Dr. Muhammad Kurdi, the Kingdom’s ambassador to the Southeast Asian country. He said Singapore attached great importance to the visit considering Sultan’s position and Saudi Arabia’s regional and global role.
Kurdi noted his government’s efforts to promote relations with important Asian countries. He was referring to visits by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to the Asian countries China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan in January this year as part of efforts to attract foreign investment and gain greater access to Asian markets.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has welcomed the crown prince’s visit to his country and said the visit would witness the signing of four agreements. He expected a greater flow of investments from his country to Saudi Arabia, especially to King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, which includes educational, industrial, tourism and infrastructure projects worth SR100 billion.
In comments published in the local press, Lee also said that his government was making preparations for exchange of students. Saudi Arabia intends to send some 500 students to Singapore for higher studies every year.
According to Ambassador Kurdi, the two countries will exchange documents dealing with implementation of their general cooperation agreement. “The royal visit will also witness the signing of an accord for the protection and promotion of investments,” Kurdi said. Foreign ministries in the two countries will sign a memorandum of understanding for cooperation and coordination on international issues of mutual concern.
The ambassador underscored the strong relations between Saudi Arabia and Singapore, adding that the two countries hold similar views on major regional and international issues.
