VIENNA, 1 April 2004 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, arrived here yesterday on a three-day official visit to Austria. He was greeted on arrival by Austrian President Thomas Klestil and other top officials.
Prince Abdullah and Klestil headed straight to talks at the Hofburg Palace, where they witnessed the signing of a bilateral agreement that urges closer cooperation between the two countries in areas such as technology, industry, information and scientific research.
Klestil was due to host a state banquet for the crown prince later in the evening. The royal visit will also include talks with Austrian leaders on economic cooperation, the Middle East conflict and fighting terror.
The Austrian president honored the crown prince by conferring on him the country’s highest medal. Prince Abdullah reciprocated by awarding the president the King Abdul Aziz medal.
Prince Abdullah was scheduled to hold discussions with Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel during the course of his visit, which concludes Friday.
The crown prince and his entourage were greeted here with full military honors. The area around the Vienna palace where some members of the Saudi delegation are staying has been put under special surveillance.
Prince Abdullah’s talks with Austrian officials were expected to focus on the Middle East, the situation in Iraq and international terrorism. Klestil has emphasized the need for resuming Middle East peace talks and called for a greater and more effective role for the United Nations in Iraq.
Klestil highlighted the “excellent” relations between Saudi Arabia and his country and stressed the need for further boosting economic ties. “I believe that Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries have huge economic potential and we would like to work with them as partners,” he said.
Klestil welcomed the efforts of Prince Abdullah to find a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict. “What we can do now is to encourage all parties to resume peace talks to prevent extremist forces from aborting the political process.”
Saudi Arabia and Austria have forged closer economic cooperation with two-way trade exceeding SR1 billion annually. Vienna has extended its full support to the Kingdom’s membership in the World Trade Organization.
