Addressing TEDxRiyadh organized by Al-Ghad Forum, he said the national strategy for youth would be ready by the end of this year.

“The government is very much concerned with the youths and the new strategy would realize their hopes and aspirations,” he told the forum attended by more than 1,300 young Saudi men and women.

“We’ll present the draft strategy to the Cabinet and the Shoura Council soon after its completion,” he said, adding that the remarkable growth in youth would help the Kingdom achieve its development objectives.

Al-Gosaibi said the government was successful in completing many vital projects for the welfare and progress of youths in the country, including new universities and training centers.

“The number of youths in the Kingdom reached 3.9 million in 2010 and they represent 21 percent of the total Saudi population,” he said. One in every five Saudis is in the age group of 15-24 and about 34 percent of the Kingdom’s population is of working age.

During his interaction with the youths, Al-Gosaibi said his ministry would follow up the hopes and aspirations expressed by youths through social media such as Facebook and Twitter. “We have received so many comments from the youth regarding the new national strategy for the youth.”

Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman opened the three-day forum on Saturday and urged cultural and social organizations to hear the voice of youth and set out plans to ensure a better future for them.

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to ideas worth spreading. The purpose of TEDxRiyadh is to shine light on some of the brightest youths in the country.

Prince Fahd bin Faisal, chairman of the team for Arabizing Facebook, said the number of Facebook users across the world reached 600 million last January. About 70 percent of them are outside the United States. “The website is now available in 70 languages.”

Prince Fahd said people spend about 700 million minutes monthly on Facebook and exchange nearly 30 billion pieces of content monthly, including texts and photos. He also pointed out that more than 250 million users interact with Facebook through their cell phones.

The participants emphasized the important role being played by the social media in spreading news such as the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and the revolutions in some Arab countries.

Badr Al-Badr, CEO of Cisco Systems, said there are about 3 million Facebook users in the Kingdom, adding that one-third of them are women.

Ammar Bakkar, director of new media at MBC Group, explained how the news of Bin Laden’s killing spread like wildfire through the social media since the story broke early Monday morning.

Abdullah Al-Rifae of Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University spoke about the information revolution, adding that people have become partners in the information industry.

Abdulwahab Al-Faiz, editor in chief of Al-Eqtisadiah daily, said that the publication has grown significantly in the last five years. The new revolution in the technology industry has opened new channels that will transform the traditional media into something completely new. He said, “Youth are the fuel of new media and social network. That young people are the decisive factor in the development of new media,” he added. He also that that new media offer great opportunities for investment and projects for youth, especially small projects.