Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques discusses with former U.S. President Carter current issues

Crown Prince Sultan receives phone call from Yemeni president

Conference in London reviews investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia

Saudi-Russian forum in Jeddah calls for deepening relations between two countries

Saudi undersecretary of foreign affairs opens international workshop on biological arms ban treaty

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received at the Royal Court at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on October 20 former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the accompanying delegation.

During the meeting, they exchanged cordial talks and discussed a number of issues.

The audience was attended by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Prince Miqren bin Abdulaziz, Chief of General Intelligence; Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the King; Prince Mansour bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the King; Prince Dr. Bandar bin Salman bin Mohammed Al Saud, Advisor to the King; and Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Saudi Ambassador to the United States.

Carter visited the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) in Riyadh.

Upon his arrival, the former U.S. President was received by Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SFD.

During the meeting, they discussed ways of enhancing cooperation between SFD and the Carter Center.

Carter left the Saudi capital on October 21. He was seen off at King Khalid International Airport by a number of senior officials.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received a telephone call from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

During the call, President Saleh was reassured about the health of the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince thanked President Saleh for his noble feelings.

Cordial talks were exchanged and bilateral relations between the two countries in various fields were reviewed during the call.

Baroness Symons, former British secretary of state for Middle East affairs, has commended Saudi Arabias investment atmosphere. She said the Kingdom has achieved high economic growth rate despite global financial crisis.

Saudi Arabia holds the No. 1 position among the Middle Eastern countries, in terms of attracting foreign investment, she told a conference to promote British trade and investment in Saudi Arabia, whichi is organized by the Middle East Association, with support from UK Trade and Investment and the British Offset Office.

Symons, who is the chairperson of the Saudi-British Trade Council, estimated the number of British citizens visiting Saudi Arabia for trade and pilgrimage annually at about 100,000. Saudi Arabia is an oasis of security and stability as a result of the wise policies adopted by its leadership, the baroness said.

Speakers included Sir Alan Munro, former British Ambassador to the Kingdom, and senior representatives from SABB, Saudi Aramco, Maaden and other key Saudi and British private-sector companies.

This is the sixth such annual conference focusing on trade between Saudi Arabia and the UK. Last year, more than 250 delegates attended the conference.

The Middle East Association also leads two multisector trade missions to Saudi Arabia every year, a clear indication of the strength of trade between the two Kingdoms.

Meanwhile, in the presence of more than 300 Saudi and Russian dealers and manufacturers, the First Saudi-Russian forum concluded on October 20 at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah, where the two sides reviewed the investment opportunities available to businessmen and investors, and discussed the joint deals and ventures.

The Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah, Dr. Abdullah bin Mahfouz said that the forum has achieved success given the earnest desire of both sides to develop their economic relations, pointing out that it was also a bridge of communication between Saudi and Russian manufacturers, traders and businessmen in both countries.

The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry had held on October 18 the Saudi-Russian Businessmen Forum under the theme of "Russia and Saudi Arabia ... New Horizons for Commercial and Industrial Cooperation".

The speech of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jeddah Chamber Mohammed Al-Fadhl was delivered by the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors Mazen bin Mohammed Batterjee in which he said that this meeting is a historic opportunity to build bridges between businessmen in both countries, pointing out that the relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Russia is developing since the visit paid by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to Russia in 2004.

He also called for removing the obstacles that hinder investment opportunities in both countries in addition to encouraging businessmen in order to increase trade exchange.

The Russian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Victor Koudriavtsev delivered a speech in which he highlighted trade exchange between Russia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, saying that an increase is expected in trade exchange between the two countries in the fields of knowledge economy.

The forum was attended by a number of officials.

In Riyadh, Prince Dr. Turki bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Kabeer, the Undersecretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Relations, inaugurated on October 20 the International Workshop for Definition of the Treaty Banning Biological Weapons organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh under the auspices of the United Nations.

Prince Dr. Turki said, " I am honored to patronize the inauguration ceremony of this workshop upon the directives of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General and Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Minister of Foreign Affairs", stressing that the treaty of banning, developing, producing and storing biological weapons and their destruction forms one important pillar of an international system in which security and stability prevail.

In a press statement, he said that the Kingdom’s stand is obvious in making the Middle East free from all mass destruction weapons whether nuclear, biological or chemical, adding that this is the Kingdom’s official stand and we seek to achieve it at the international arena and we hope that there will be an international support for this matter.

On the other hand, the 6th Conference of Culture Ministers of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) was concluded in Gulustan Palace.

The conference began with the reading of the Koran ayats.

Culture Ministers of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Algeria, Bangladesh, Gabon, Cameroon, Chad, Arab Republic of Yemen, Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Tuva Republic, Khakasia, head of Iran Islamic Culture and Communications Organization, member of Omani royal family, culture minister, Director Generals of ISESCO, IRCICA, Council of Europe and TURKSOY, representatives of culture ministries of Austria, Vatican, Georgia, heads of a number of universities and academies, representatives of a number of international organizations accredited in Azerbaijan, representatives of Azerbaijani government attended the conference. 25 ministers, 11 deputy ministers from over 45 states, representatives of 18 international organizations are attending the event.

The conference will last till October 15. Chairman of Caucasian Muslims Office, Sheikh-ul-Islam Haji Allahshukur Pashazadeh, Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev, Director of Culture and Cultural and National Heritage at the Council of Europe Robert Palmer, ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri and others are participating in the conference.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s letter of congratulation was read at the 6th Conference of OIC Culture Ministers. APA reports that first Deputy Prime Minister Elchin Efendiyev read the president’s letter.

The letter writes: “Declaration of Baku as the capital of Islamic Culture for 2009 is a high assessment given to the rich history and culture of our country. The events held within a day made contributions to the development of our cultural relations and once more drew attention to Azerbaijan’s position in the formation of great Islamic culture. We regard the tolerance existing in the republic as our great historical achievement; attention is paid to the establishment of constructive dialogue among various religions and cultures.”

The letter writes that Azerbaijan is implementing a number of international projects for the protection of its modern, historical-cultural heritage. All Islamic monuments, including mosques, temples in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan were destroyed as a result of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno Karabakh conflict for more than 20 years. Our country always welcomed the support of member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to our fair case during the aggression we faced. I believe the details of topical issues of the Islamic culture will be discussed at the conference and it will determine new ways of development of cultural cooperation between our countries and peoples”.

After the reading out of the President’s letter of congratulation, the ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri addressed the conference. He highly appreciated the conference organized in Baku and said he supported soonest solution to the conflicts between the world countries.

The ministers of culture of the OIC countries passed decision in their 5th conference in Tripoli, Libya on November 21-23, 2007 to declare Baku as Islamic Culture Capital – 2009 and to hold 6th meetings of the ministers of culture in Baku in 2009. More than 100 national and international events were included in the Baku – Islamic Culture Capital 2009 program.

The opening and final ceremonies of the culture year, 6th conference of the OIC ministers of culture, meeting of the ministers of culture of the Turkic-speaking countries, International Mugham Festival, the days of culture of Morocco, Qatar and Jordan in Azerbaijan, East-West International Film Festival, 2nd conference of the national library directors of the member countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization, ISESCO International Tourism Film Festival, East-West International Dance Festival, First International Culinary Festival of the Islamic countries, First International Book Fair in Baku and other events were in the program.

A round table on the cross-culture dialogue was organized on the first day of the conference. The idea of round table was put forward at the conference of the ministers of culture of the European countries on December 2-3, 2008 in Baku and is implemented within the framework of Baku Process of Cross-Culture Dialogue founded in that conference.

The advising council held its 9th meeting in Baku on October 9-10, 2009 on the implementation of Cultural Strategy of the Islamic World and discussed the text of documents to be adopted at the conference. TURKSOY Permanent Council of the Ministers of Culture will also hold its 26th meeting in Baku on October 16-17, 2009. The ministers and representatives of the number of international organizations will attend the meeting.