RIYADH: Under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, the fifth annual Saudi International Exhibition and Forum for Education (Ta’leem 2016) will kick off Tuesday night with France as the guest of honor country.

The three-day event will be launched at the Riyadh International Exhibition and Conference Center at King Abdullah Road here, under the theme “investment in education.”

Around 250 exhibitors from the Kingdom and 25 other countries are participating in the event comprising an exhibition and a forum.

Prominent speakers from both the Kingdom and foreign countries are contributing to the forum.

On choosing France as guest of honor country for this year’s edition of the exhibition and conference, Minister of Education Ahmad Al-Issa said earlier that France is a friendly advanced country in education and educational investment that getting more attention from Saudi education officials as well as from Saudis citizens who are interested in pursuing further studies there, whether on government scholarships or on their own means.

French Ambassador to the Kingdom Bertrand Besancenot told Arab News in exclusive statements that he and his country are very grateful to the Kingdom for selecting France as guest of honor at Ta’leem 2016.

“This is very significant step as France has been a long-time friend of Saudi Arabia, as well as one of the best allies and partners of the Kingdom. Since 2015, we have set up a special Franco-Saudi committee that meets on a regular basis that helps our cooperation move forward in all fields and in the field of education in particular,” he said.

“When Prince Khaled bin Faisal started to reform the education system in 2014, France was one of the first countries to offer support, since we believe progress begins with a modern education system that meets society’s needs,” he added.

Besancenot stressed that Saudi society faces two main challenges today. The first is the “Saudization” of the labor market, which requires a more efficient training and vocational system to fit business needs. And the second is the fight against terrorism and religious extremism, which requires redesigning some education programs.

On his country’s contribution to Ta’leem 2016, he mentioned that France will display a wide range of expertise on how to invest successfully in education through modern facilities (e.g. high tech nurseries, primary and secondary schools, connected campuses, etc.) and vocational training institutions (e.g. technical high schools, technological institutes).

“Many French governmental institutions will attend the event, notably the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, the Académie of Paris (the local administration in charge of implementing the national education policy for Paris), Campus France (the national agency for the promotion of higher education), the CREDIJ (the “French TVTC”) and some cutting-edge private universities and “grandes écoles,” he said.

“There will also be French companies specialized in education, including start-ups with high development potential in Saudi Arabia. The aim of the French pavilion will be to provide a large number of education advisers and specialists to explain and show how education reform has been dealt with in France. That could be a source of inspiration for Saudi Arabia in its own short- and long-term reforms,” he added.