RIYADH: Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Aziz Khoja Tuesday laid the foundation stone for the permanent headquarters of the Gulf Radio and Television Corporation in the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh.
The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by a number of GCC officials concerned with information affairs, including Head of information affairs in Bahrain Sheikh Fawwaz bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Omani Minister of Information Abdulmoneim bin Mansour Al-Hassani, Kuwaiti Minister of Information and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Qatari Executive Vice President for information foundation Mubarak Al-Kuwari, GCC Assistant Secretary-General for cultural and information affairs Khalid bin Salim Al-Ghassani, and Saudi Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Jasser. Director General of the Gulf Radio and Television (GRTV) Abdullah bin Said Abu Ras addressed the ceremony, saying the event clearly symbolizes the strong-based relations between sons of the GCC countries and represents a model for joint GCC work.
He expressed appreciation to the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for its full-fledged support to the project and allocation of a plot of land, estimated at 4,000 sq. meters, and bearing the cost of the overall project that exceeds SR 15 million.
The built-up area is 2,823 sq. meters and will include a radio and TV training center aimed at training GCC young cadres in addition to an information documentation center, designed to build an electronic data base.
It will also house a TV and radio program exchange center between GCC member states and other support services, Khoja was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency as saying.
Commenting on the event, Saudi Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Al-Jasser said Gulf Radio and TV is one of the Gulf institutions founded upon a decision of the GCC ministers of information, whose board of directors is headed by Culture and Information Minister Khoja.
He said the land of the project had been donated by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, which would also bear the construction costs of the project.
Last July, the minister of culture and information signed a contract with a national company for the construction of the GRTV’s permanent headquarters. The project will be completed in two years.
Khoja lays foundation stone for Gulf Radio, TV Corp
