Crown Prince Sultan opens Prince Mohammed bin Fahd private

Al-Khober, Saudi Arabia, October 8, SPA -- Crown Prince Sultan bin
Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation
and Inspector General, tonight graced the opening ceremony of
Al-Khober-based Prince Mohammed bin Fahd private university.

Upon arrival at the venue, Crown Prince Sultan was received by Prince
Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Region, who
is also Chairman of the Council of Trustees of the university, other
princes and senior officials.

A speech ceremony was held to mark the occasion.

Addressing the party, the Rector of the University Dr. Isa bin Hasan
Al-Ansari said Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz has two years
ago adopted the idea by Saudi people in the region to build the
university. Immediately, he donated a 500,000 sq.m. piece of land and
donated the cost of the university's largest college worth SR27
million, he announced.

For his part, the University's Deputy Chairman of the Council of
Trustees Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd reminded that Prince
Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region, has laid the
foundation stone for the project, before being adopted by Prince
Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz.

Taking the podium, Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz announced
the donation of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy
Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, to
shoulder the cost of a professorship chair on energy and environment
studies amounting to SR10 million on annual bases.

Then Crown Prince Sultan opened the university electronically, and
was shown a documentary film on the university's different facilities
and construction. Then he laid the foundation stone for the
University Housing Complex and launched the university's initiatives
to forge a number of partnerships with international renowned
scientific institutions in the field of higher education.

Addressing the gathering, Crown Prince Sultan highlighted the higher
education renaissance orchestrating the different parts of the
continent-like country of Saudi Arabia.

He said the balanced developed programs in the Kingdom, under the
instructions of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, have put education, training and scientific
research on top of their devepment plans priorities.

He cited the expansion in the higher education programs, support of
universities, follow-up of the personal situations of their staff
members as well as students, and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
Program for domestic and external scholarship as tangible evidence of
keenness of the Saudi prudent and sincere leadership, led by the
monarch.

He vowed that the Government is determined to support and encourage
the partnership between higher education and private sector.

Then the Crown Prince honored the shareholders of the university and
exchanged memorial gifts.

The event was attended by a number of princes and civil and military
officials.
Since the beginning of the project, the idea was shared by Saudi
businessmen in the region, he said, adding that the founders vowed to
build an advanced modern educational facility in the Eastern Region.