As he celebrates the fourth anniversary of his accession to the throne, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah can join with his people in looking back on some truly groundbreaking achievements and look forward to further advances to bring Saudi Arabia to Developed Country status.
Only months after he became king, for the first time women were allowed to both vote and stand in local elections, with the result that two women were elected to the board of directors of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He never misses an opportunity to emphasize that the promotion of women in society was a priority, most particularly so that their skills could be used in the workplace. This February Abdullah appointed by royal decree the first Saudi woman to a Cabinet post. Nora Al-Fayez became the deputy education minister for girls’ affairs.
The king has been no less active in international affairs, capitalizing on the Kingdom’s membership of the World Trade Organization that came six months after his accession with a series of key international visits which included India and China. But undoubtedly his most significant international achievement todate has been the Arab Peace Initiative that he formulated when he was still crown prince. Now fully endorsed by the Arab League, it is clear the initiative will play a crucial part in the renewed search for a just settlement of the Middle East conflict. President Obama has recognized this and it is no coincidence that it was to Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah that he first called before going on to make his landmark Cairo speech this month.
A second equally important initiative has been the king’s launch of the interfaith dialogue, designed in particular to break down the stereotypes of the Muslim world in the eyes of Christians and no less significantly the stereotypes of Christians in the Muslim world. It cannot have been a coincidence that these sentiments were also echoed by Obama in Cairo. And the king has been prepared to clothe his words in deeds. His visit to the pope in the Vatican was highly symbolic and caused some Western commentators to reflect that such a meeting would have been unthinkable in the past. Nor should be forgotten the extraordinary economic and infrastructural development that Abdullah has begun. The four mega economic cities in Rabigh, Hail, Madinah and Jazan, are expected to draw SR300 billion in new investment projects and create more than a million new jobs. To back up the demand for skilled and highly qualified graduates we are seeing a major education boost, the most eye-catching part of which is the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology, designed to attract the brightest young minds from around the globe as well as the Kingdom and give them world-class teachers and state-of-the art research centers. The size of this remarkable industrial transformation with its massive associated infrastructure, including railways, is in the view of some international economists likely to be a key driver of world economic recovery.
We, therefore, warmly congratulate King Abdullah on four outstanding years of achievement.
