RIYADH: Prince Naif, second deputy premier and minister of interior, presented prizes to the winners of the prestigious King Khaled Awards at a ceremony held here Saturday night. The awards were presented in four categories while the Award for National Achievement in the field of education was presented to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in a separate ceremony at Rawdat Khiraim near Riyadh on Friday.
“King Abdullah was chosen as winner of the prestigious King Khaled Award for National Achievement for his exemplary services in the field of education,” said Prince Faisal bin Khaled, governor of Asir, while speaking on this occasion.
“The award given to King Abdullah reflects his visionary leadership and his pioneering efforts in the field of education.” A documentary on the life and achievements of King Abdullah was also shown.
Several members of the royal family, top-ranking Saudi officials and over 1,500 guests, including 300 women, attended the award ceremony. Speaking on this occasion, Prince Naif said: “The King Khaled Awards reminded me of the greatness of late King Khaled, who was a towering personality of the Arab world.” Prince Naif presented awards for social projects as well. This award was shared by two major charitable organizations of the Kingdom. The first was Prince Salman Charitable Housing Society for establishing a self-financed housing project through endowments to provide free shelters to poor people. On behalf of the society, Prince Salman, governor of Riyadh, received the award from Prince Naif.
In his acceptance speech, Prince Salman said: “I am thankful to the trustees of King Khaled Awards, who conferred this prestige on society. I pray to Allah for the well-being of the Kingdom and thanks to Him that Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, has returned back to the Kingdom after a yearlong medical treatment.”
A documentary on Prince Salman was also shown on the occasion.
The award in social project category was shared by Ali Kanoo Center for Kidney Dialysis in Dammam for providing high-quality diagnostic and treatment services as well as awareness for kidney patients.
Speaking on this occasion, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh said: “The awards given to King Abdullah and others are a means to commemorate the Islamic values for which late King Khaled stood. Late King Khaled’s contributions are immense… generations after generations will remember the visionary leader.”
In the category of social science, the award was conferred on Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Obeidi, a faculty member at Social Sciences Department at King Saud University in Riyadh for his remarkable academic contributions in studying and solving the issues of the Saudi society.
Three winners shared the awards under social competitiveness: National Commercial Bank (NCB), Al-Zamil Group and Al-Fanar Group. Each winner will receive a certificate outlining the laureate’s work, a medallion, a souvenir shield besides and cash. In the national achievement category the winner receives SR1 million, while SR750,000 will be given to each winner in other three categories: scientific research, social sciences and social competitiveness.
