Functions of the winning ceremony were held at King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh.
Upon arrival, Prince Sattam was received by Minister of Education and Deputy Chairman of KACGC Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed, Deputy Minister of Education and KACGC Secretary General Khalid Abdullah Al-Sabti and other officials of the ministry and KACGC. General Supervisor of the Olympiad Ahmed Al-Blushi, addressing the ceremony, stressed that the Kingdom under the wise rule of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques used to care for the gifted students through the concerned bodies, particularly the Ministry of Education and KACGC.
He said the final stage of the Olympiad was initiated by participation of 515 (male and female) gifted students representing 312 schools Kingdom-wide who presented 400 projects in the area of innovation and scientific research.
He said the Olympiad represented one area of partnership between the Education Ministry and KACGC, which, he said, came to provide a competing atmosphere that would cater the interests of students and uncover their talents.
On behalf of the students, Salih bin Abdullah expressed thanks to Prince Sattam for his care and support to the Olympiad.
For his part, Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed said, "In a world experiencing developments and challenges and fierce economic competitiveness, innovation and talents will stand as a major instrument to deal with the new world environment and challenges."
The wealth of any community rests on innovators and talents who are key elements to drive growth, which necessitates qualitative knowledge and education taking into account the needs of the current time and society, he said.
The knowledge-based community has diverse and overlapping elements; prominently in the first place comes the talent, thought which someone is capable of formulating innovations and scientific discoveries so as to realize the leadership vision of seeing a Saudi society that can contribute for an advanced world, he pointed out.
He said cooperation, integration and partnership between the Ministry of Education and KACGC had reached an advanced stage for the best interests of the talented and innovators in the Kingdom.
He stressed the Olympiad came to boost a general drive of creating a competitive scientific environment aimed at cultivating the spirit of innovation among the sons of the nation and prepare them to enter the world’s knowledge system based on innovation and research.
The minister lauded the efforts exerted by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Crown Prince Naif for their continued support to everything concerned with science, talent and innovation, together with their care for scientists and think-tanks.
The minister also expressed pleasure over the winners in this Olympiad, which, he said, was not a surprise for a country whose message is "read" and knowledge is its base. He said the Kingdom had been investing in humans, which was evidenced by the number of talented students in the current Olympiad. Another proof was that a quarter of the state budget went to the Ministry of Education, he said.
Prince Sattam said the main concern of the leadership centered around the development of the citizen and investment in intellectual capital, as the citizen had become a major theme for development.
He expressed hope the Olympiad would establish a solid-based knowledge aimed at preparing a future generation capable of leading the country in the path of sustainable development and research taking into consideration values, cultures and specialties of the Saudi society.
He appreciated the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Education and KACGC in this respect.
Prince Sattam also honored the sponsors of the Olympiad and, later, received a trophy from the minister of education.
Winners of this Olympiad will represent the KSA at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), scheduled for May 13-18 in Pittsburg, United States.
It is to be recalled that phase 2 of the Olympiad witnessed the participation of a huge number of students reaching 50,000 who presented 5,122 projects. They came from 5,243 schools representing 13 regions Kingdom-wide.
The Olympiad normally covers 16 areas including mathematics, zoology, botany, chemistry, physics, medicines, IT, biochemistry, energy, and environment sciences.
