The United States is host to more than 83,000 Saudi students, Joseph W. Westphal, the newly appointed US ambassador to the Kingdom, said.

These students account for more than half of all Saudis studying abroad, he said.

Saudi Arabia ranks fourth among countries sending students to the US, making educational relations one of the strategic areas of cooperation between the two countries.

At least 80 US institutions have partnerships with Saudi universities, he said.

Most of these students are funded by the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP).

Westphal was addressing guests at the Quincy residence in Riyadh ahead of his country’s 238th independence day. This is the first independence day celebration hosted in Riyadh by Westphal.

Riyadh Gov. Prince Khaled bin Bandar and several high-ranking Saudi officials attended the event, along with members of the diplomatic corps and the media.

“Saudi Arabia is one of our closest and most valued partners in the region and globally,” the envoy said.

“A total of 126,300 tourist visas, which include 38,306 student visas, were issued to Saudis through our embassy in Riyadh and our consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, marking a 6 percent increase from the previous year and more than double the number of visas issued in 2008.”

Saudi Arabia is our ninth largest trading partner worldwide, with more than $70 billion in bilateral trade, he said. “Together, we have tackled some of the toughest global challenges, including maintaining Middle East peace, addressing regional wars and internal conflicts, such as the ongoing suffering in Syria, and eliminating violent extremism.”

“President Obama has reaffirmed these close ties and our close working relationship in his meeting with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah,” Westphal said. “My meeting with the king on March 28 demonstrated the close personal ties between our leaders and their strong commitment to an enduring partnership.”

The envoy accompanied Barack Obama during his recent state visit.

Westphal highlighted the partnership between the American and Saudi people in higher education as the theme of this year’s celebration, which underlines the strong and diverse relationship between the American and Saudi people and educational institutions.

“We cherish the close ties that develop as a result of travel to the United States for study, business, and leisure, ties that support and strengthen our strong bilateral relations,” he said.

"In 2005, prior to the launching of KASP, there were fewer than 3,500 Saudi students in the US, whereas today, there are over 83,000 young Saudi men and women studying at our universities and colleges from coast to coast,” he said.