JEDDAH: A session chaired by Faisal bin Abdul Rahman Al-Muammar, adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and secretary-general of King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue (KACND), and Saleh Kamel, closed the curtain down on the 14th edition of the Jeddah Economic Forum entitled ‘Growth Through Youth’.

“KACND has set an example as a platform to discuss all issues related to the Saudi lifestyle, in line with our cultural and social heritage,” said Al-Muammar.

“The center has always prioritized the youth because we believe the youth play a key role in various development phases. The current phase depends on quality and investment in our human resources, empowering them to build the future especially that development is based on the youth which represents 65 percent of the population.”

Al-Muammar stressed that development is based on several pillars, the first two of which being the association with Islam and the unity of our nation.

“We all seek this unity because it provides us with security and stability,” he added.

“Development is also associated with exploring the nation’s wealth and that is why our path is based on dialogue and its genuine relation to religion and contemporary change at a time when the world has become a small village in which negative and positive issues travel around in record speed.”

He said: “The ninth 5-year plan has dedicated a whole chapter to the youth, who play a pivotal role in development and have great contribution to the different development areas. We have to make more efforts to prepare our young generation the right way and provide them with the right environment in addition to establish the dialogue and moderation culture.”

“The educational gap is one of the challenges facing the youth in a technology era. The way to weather this storm perhaps is the adaptability and rational thinking through national and Government organizations and good training. Without the youth, there will be no development. We should identify the issues and open new horizons for dialogue with the youth at all family, educational and religious levels, in addition to increasing general entertainment services for youth so they can make better use of their free time and balancing job opportunities. We have to implement a strategy of aligning the role of the mosque with that of the school and the family. We believe it is time to focus on intellectual and cultural aspects. We should be straight forward and set our moderate tracks which comply with sustained development away from extremist ideology.”

Fahd bin Sultan Al-Sultan, deputy secretary-general of King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue, said the center has always sought to be an incubator for the thoughts and ambitions of the youth.

He said KACND has paved the way for the youth to actively participate in its events by volunteering their time.

The number of male and female volunteers has now topped 1,500, taking part in all KACND activities.

Sheikh Saleh Kamel concluded the session by confirming that the planning for the next edition of the Jeddah Economic Forum will start immediately.

He called upon all participants to share their suggestions and thoughts through the forum’s website.