“When we celebrate tonight the university's endowment projects, we are in fact honoring welfare activities in the Kingdom,” he said.

Prince Salman, who is also chairman of the high committee for the university's endowments, chaired the third annual meeting of the committee and honored a number of people who supported the university’s projects.

“This is a country of welfare. Our people are philanthropists and charity lovers,” he said, lauding the bounties bestowed by Allah on Saudi Arabia, making it the host of the two holy mosques.

Prince Salman said the Kingdom is ruled by the Qur'an and Sunna, the pillars of the government system, adding the state of peace and security in the country is achieved through its application of Islamic teachings.

Prince Salman said King Saud University was the first university in the Kingdom, followed by many universities and colleges in various parts of the country. “These are blessings which we should always thank Allah for,” he said.

He expressed happiness that he had contributed to the development of the university and said it was a national duty.

Prince Salman saw a documentary about the university's endowment projects. He also listened to a briefing about these projects from the university's rector Abdullah Al-Osman, who thanked the governor for his consistent support for the university, which included the donation of a 6 million square meter piece of land for the construction of its endowment schemes.

The rector said the university’s endowment projects were the first educational endowments in the region to finance research and development. “These giant projects were the result of Prince Salman’s efforts, which also enabled us to establish 117 research chairs,” he said.

During the function, Prince Salman also attended the signing of two agreements. One was with the Hilton Group to operate three hotel towers and the second with Schneider Electric to equip two office towers.

The prep year building consists of 112 lecture halls, 25 labs, exercise facilities, an electronic library, 10 restaurants, four cafes, a mosque and parking lot for 3,000 cars.

The university's 11 endowment projects include hotel and office towers, conference halls, a mall and other utilities.