Saudi youths remain king’s primary concern, says Prince Sultan

Prince Sultan bin Salman speaks at the annual forum of cultural attachés abroad, held at the Ministry of Education headquarters on Tuesday. (SPA)

RIYADH: Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), stressed the government’s keenness to develop the capacity of students studying abroad on scholarships and providing them with jobs upon their return.
Addressing the annual forum of the cultural attachés abroad, held on the premises of the Ministry of Education on Tuesday, Prince Sultan said Saudi students on scholarships, and Saudi youths in general, remain the primary concern for King Salman.
Speaking to the attendees, the prince recalled how King Fahd had tasked him to visit students studying on scholarships in the US in the late 1970s and how he held meetings with large groups of students and submitted a series of recommendations to the king, who ordered that they be speedily implemented.
Prince Sultan said the king has always wanted Saudi students to take pride in their national identity and to remain the best ambassadors for their country. “We look at cultural missions and students abroad as the Kingdom’s most important investment, from the time they prepare to depart until they come back to contribute to developing their country,” he said.
He stressed that SCTH opted to work in partnership with the government, the private sector and local communities to offer services and launch joint initiatives.
Touching on the SCTH’s efforts, Prince Sultan said the commission conducted a number of programs and activities, including exhibitions abroad, and that it was keen to have cultural missions and students joining these activities.
He stressed the importance of such exhibitions in reflecting the civilized and historic dimensions of the Kingdom, which, due to its geographical strategic location, serves as a bridge for human civilizations.
The prince said SCTH will work under the umbrella of the Ministry of Education within a framework of integration agreement, and that cultural attachés in each country will be leaders of this cooperation project.
In this context, he mentioned some aspects of cooperation between SCTH and cultural missions abroad, part of which are his visits to several cultural missions and sending SCTH publications and e-newsletters to these missions to deliver to scholarship students.
Prince Sultan also spoke about the opportunities the tourism and heritage sector offers scholarship students once they arrive in the Kingdom.
“We want them know how they can take loans and how to run businesses and investments,” he said.
Once they return home, these students, who number over 130,000, can find information issued by SCTH on the development of the tourism sector in the Kingdom.
They can also benefit from training programs available at SCTH, he said.
On the sidelines of the forum, Prince Sultan launched the electronic newsletter destined for Saudi diplomatic missions and scholarship students, issued by SCTH in Arabic and English, which primarily aims at informing readers on developments related to tourism and national heritage in the Kingdom.