Seoul to host Saudi-Korean Youth Forum next week

Riyadh: The Saudi-Korean Youth Forum will be held in Seoul on June 17-27. A preparatory workshop for the forum’s participants was held at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) recently.
The forum, the sixth in a series of forums, is being conducted in the framework of the historic initiative taken by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to achieve world peace through promoting dialogue among followers of various religions and cultures.
It will focus on knowledge economy, e-education and broadband services, according to Yusuf Al-Saadoun, undersecretary for economic and cultural affairs at the Ministry of Foreign.
Twenty-six young Saudi men and women, who are to participate in the forum, attended the workshop. Addressing the gathering, Al-Saadoun underscored the success of forums held earlier in various countries, including China, Brazil, Germany and India.
In his speech, Prince Turki bin Saud, deputy president of KACST, said that the city’s strategy is based on developing the Kingdom’s education, especially e-education and various technologies used in this respect.
Sultan Al-Malik, director general of public relations and media at Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) and coordinator of the forum, made a video presentation highlighting the tremendous growth witnessed in the Kingdom’s telecom sector, especially in the fields of broadband and Internet services.
He also reviewed the Kingdom’s experiments in smart city projects and the efforts being made to develop the telecom sector. The participants were briefed on the activities of the forum as well as the preparations to hold dialogue between the Saudi and Korean youth delegations.
In March this year, the ministry had organized the Saudi-Indian Youth Forum. A 26-member delegation of Saudi youths visited Indian IT hubs of Hyderabad and Bangalore as well as the capital city of New Delhi where they participated in a number of programs and activities as part of promoting interactions in the field of science and technology and gaining a firsthand account of the progress made by Indian institutions and universities. The delegation members toured IT and communication facilities, academic and technological institutions, research centers and places of cultural and historical importance.
During the visit, the Saudi delegation, which comprised of students, media persons and youth from different walks of life, have had interactions with prominent Indian figures, including former president and world-renowned nuclear scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, as well as ministers, senior officials and executives especially in the fields of communications and IT.