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March 24, 2006 |
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KING ABDULLAH DECORATES PRESIDENT FISCHER WITH KING ABDUL AZIZ DECORATION. FISCHER PRAISES HIS TALKS WITH KING ABDULLAH. CROWN PRINCE SULTAN REVIEWS WITH THE KIGNDOM'S GUEST THE REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS. PRESIDENT FISCHER HOLDS MEETINGS WITH THE MINISTERS OF INTERIOR AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WITH THE GOVERNOR OF RIYADH REGION. THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA AND AUSTRIA SIGN AN AGREEMENT FOR AVOIDING DUAL TAXATION ON INCOME AND CAPITAL. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud decorated at his palace the Austria's President Dr. Heinz Fischer with King Abdul Aziz decoration. Then the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the President held a meeting. At the outset of the meeting, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques welcomed the President, wishing him and his accompanying delegation a good stay in the Kingdom. On his part, the Austrian President expressed his thanks to and appreciation of the King for a warm welcome and generous hospitality accorded to them. During the meeting, they discussed the overall situations and latest developments at the regional and international arenas particularly the developments of the Palestinian issue, the situation in Iraq, aspects of cooperation between the two countries and ways of enhancing them for the interest of the two countries and their friendly peoples in all fields. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and Austrian President Heinz Fischer held wide-ranging talks on bilateral and regional issues. In their talks, King Abdullah and President Fischer, whose country is the current EU president, discussed the Middle East peace process, Iran's nuclear aspirations, the situation in Iraq, terrorism and tensions between Lebanon and Syria. President Fischer has been quoted as saying that the issue of funding the Hamas-led government in Palestine will also figure in the talks. The EU is the biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians, giving an annual $510 million. On the Saudi side, the meeting was attended by Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs; Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior; Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister; Prince Sattam Ibn Abdul Aziz, Vice Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence; Dr. Saud Ibn Saeed Al-Muthami, Minister of State and Cabinet's Member for Shoura Council Affairs and Saudi Ambassador to Austria Omar Ibn Mohammed Kurdi. On the Austrian side, it was attended by Minister for Health and Women's Issues Maria Rauch Kallat, Minister of Defense Guenther Platter and a number of officials accompanying the Austrian President. The Austrian delegation comprises high-ranking officials and leading businessmen from Vienna representing different sectors, including construction, finance, energy, and medical and health care services. Austrian businessmen have shown keen interest in cooperating with Saudi companies in different sectors. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud held at his palace a dinner party in honor of Austria's President Dr. Heinz Fischer and his accompanying delegation. The party was attended by Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs; Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior; Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Sattam Ibn Abdul Aziz, Vice Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Ahmed Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Minister of Interior; Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence; a number of princes; ministers and senior officials. The Austria's President Dr. Heinz Fischer arrived on a three-day official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At Riyadh Airbase, the President and his accompanying delegation were received by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz; Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs;, Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior, Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region; a number of princes; ministers and officials. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General held at his palace a dinner party in honor of Austria's President Dr. Heinz Fischer and his accompanying delegation. The party was attended by Prince Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Bandar Ibn Mohammed Ibn Abdul Rahman; Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs;, Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior; Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region; a number of princes; ministers and senior officials. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, received the Austrian defense Minister, Guenther Platter and the accompanying delegation. During the audience, they discussed aspects of cooperation between the two friendly countries and ways of their enhancement. The audience was attended by a number of officials. President Dr. Heinz Fischer of Austria received Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Interior. They exchanged cordial talks and discussed topics of mutual concern to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Austria in various domains. In a press statement following the meeting, Prince Naif said that he briefed the Austrian President on the Kingdom's security situations and the Kingdom's policy regarding security matters and expressed a desire to cooperate in the interest of the two countries' and international security and to cooperate with all the world in combating terrorism. "We informed him of the Kingdom's willingness to cooperate with Austria in the fight against terror and also to join the global war on terror." Prince Naif said that the war on terror was far from over. Answering a question after his meeting with Austrian President Heinz Fischer, the prince said: "The Kingdom is in a state of war with these people (terrorists). There will be no end to terrorism unless its roots are starved." Terrorism can not be eradicated if its sources are not choked off or uprooted, Prince Naif said. Replying to a question on the killing of Fahd Al-Juwair, Prince Naif said that new Al-Qaeda leaders in the Kingdom might possibly appear following the death of Al-Qaeda leader Fahd Al-Juwair who was killed by security officers in Riyadh earlier this month and added we are still in a battle with those deviants.. President Dr Heinz Fischer of Austria, met Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh region. They reviewed issues pertaining to bilateral relations. The meeting was attended by a number of senior officials including Prince Dr Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Ibn Eyaf al-Meqrin, the Mayor of Riyadh. President Heinz Fischer of Austria received Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister. They reviewed aspects of cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Austria in the various domains. They also exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues. The meeting was attended by Dr Saud Al-Mat'hami, the minister of state and member of the Cabinet for the affairs of the Shoura (consultative) Council, and Austrian ambassador to the Kingdom Friedrich Stift. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said he hoped Iran would follow the initiative of other countries in the region by pledging to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction. "That is the road to stability," commented the prince. "But the international community should not weigh the issue with two measures, allowing Israel to hold weapons of mass destruction, because it is Israel's possession of nuclear weapons that will drive the region into a nuclear arms race," Prince Saud said. He said the Kingdom established its relations with other countries on the basis of "mutual interests." The foreign minister said that the visit by the Austrian president strengthened relations between Riyadh and Vienna which he described as "friendly." He added: "The aim of this visit is to continue to exchange points of views on regional and international issues." Speaking to reporters after talks with Fischer, the foreign minister said the Kingdom would continue to provide financial aid to the Palestinians under a government led by Hamas despite US-led efforts to starve it of funds. "The Kingdom invariably supports the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian government," Prince Saud said. The fact that "Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections, which were conducted in compliance with European and international demands, will not make us halt our financial and material aid to the Palestinian government and people," he said. He said the Palestinian people's choice must be respected and the new government should not be prejudged. "Humanitarian assistance is not given to a government. It is given to a people to help them deal with the difficult humanitarian situation brought about by Israeli occupation and siege," Prince Saud said. Saudi Arabia and Austria have set out a broad vision off relationship with several new cooperation proposals in the fields of politics, health, human resource development and commerce being discussed by the two sides during the visit of Austrian President Dr. Heinz Fischer. An Austrian organization has been chosen to provide consultancy to the Kingdom's Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), which in setting up a project called King Fahd Employment Center (KFEC). Addressing a "Saudi-Austrian Business Forum", the Austrian President said that "Vienna would cooperate with the Kingdom in the field of human resource development." The KFEC is a major initiative funded by the HRDF with a mandate to work toward training and employment of Saudi job seekers, said Dr. Mohammed Al-Sahlawi, who presented an overview of the Kingdom's human resources development plan. In the health sector, Maria Rauch Kalat, Austrian minister of health and women affairs, said that Austrian officials would sign an agreement with Prince Sultan Humanitarian City. Under the agreement, Austrian experts will provide consultancy and training, especially in the areas of rehabilitation, to Prince Sultan City personnel. President Fischer, in the context of Saudization, said that Austria would help design and provide vocational training to the young Saudi population in a move to enable the Kingdom to nationalize its workforce. Asked about the position of Austria, which also holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, on the Danish cartoon row, he said: "Our position has been applauded by the Austrian Muslim community. I, in the capacity of the EU president, also used the opportunity to urge the 25 EU members to show respect to Islam or any other religion." Referring to the role of Austrian companies, President Fischer said that the business gentry of the two countries had evinced keen interest in doing business together. He noted several Austrian companies are interested to work in Saudi Arabia, which he called as "economic powerhouse" and said that many Austrian firms like Alpine have executed large projects like Hadeed. He called on Saudi businessmen to derive "benefits from Austria, which lies in the heart of European continent, serving as a gate for European market." The business meeting was attended by Gunther Platter, Austrian defense minister; Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid, chairman of the Council of Saudi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CSCCI) and Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, CSCCI's vice chairman besides a large number of businessmen. Austrian President Heinz Fischer left the Kingdom after completing a three-day official visit to the country. Before his departure, the president met with Shoura Council President Saleh Ibn Humaid on ways to boost relations between the Austrian Parliament and the Kingdom's consultative body. Fischer briefly attended one of the Shoura sessions and listened in to the introductions made by its members. In a press briefing following the meeting, Fischer said Saudi Arabia and Austria enjoyed good relations in several areas. He thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz for the Kingdom's "warm hospitality" during his visit. Fischer said himself being a parliamentarian in the past he had always wanted to visit the Shoura Council and look at its activities. "The president was the head of the Austrian Parliament for 12 years. He also worked in the Parliament for 33 years. He has always been interested in visiting the Shoura Council," said Austrian Ambassador Friedrich Stift. Asked about the discussions held between him and the Shoura president, Fischer said the discussions focused on the situation of Muslims in Austria and student-exchange programs between the two countries. The Chairman of the Shoura Council Humaid welcomed the president and his visiting delegation. "The visit comes on the heels of support given to the Shoura by the Saudi leadership to enhance its role and widen its jurisdictions," he said. He mentioned that former Shoura President Ibrahim Al-Jubeir had met with Fischer in 1999 while he was head of his country's Parliament. The Austrian president later visited the Prince Sultan City for Humanitarian Services. Prince Faisal Ibn Sultan, Secretary-General of the city, and Majed Al-Qasabi, general manager, welcomed the president and his delegation on his arrival. The president watched a documentary on the city's history and achievements. He also toured the premises of the city with its officials and viewed its many facilities. Following the tour, an agreement was signed between the Austrian Minister of Health and Women's Affairs, Maria Rauch-Kallat, and Prince Faisal Ibn Sultan on exchange personnel and expertise in the medical field. Meanwhile, a 45-member Austrian business delegation visited the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) to look at opportunities of investment in the Kingdom. According to Amjed Shaker, SAGIA's general manager of corporate communications, the delegation was briefed on the Kingdom's investment strategies and the initiatives undertaken by SAGIA to enhance investment opportunities in the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Austria signed an agreement for avoiding dual taxing on income and capital. On behalf of the Kingdom the agreement was signed by minister of finance Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf and on behalf of Austria by minister of defense Guenther Platter. In a press statement, Dr Al-Assaf said the agreement will positively contribute to protection of investments signed by the two countries in 2001, and will further more encourage investors in the two countries to implement joint projects. He urged businessmen in the two countries to benefit from the agreements signed by Saudi Arabia and Austria. He noted that the volume of trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and Austria jumped from about SR 643 million in 2002 to more than SR 2 billion in 2004. Visiting Austrian President Heinz Fischer received the Minister of Labor Dr Ghazi Al-Gosaibi. They reviewed issues of mutual interest. President Heinz Fischer of Austria met the Minister of Economy and Planning and acting minister of commerce and industry Khalid al-Qusaibi. They reviewed means for activating trade exchange between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Austria. The meeting was attended by Dr Saud al-Mat'hami, the minister of state and member of the Cabinet, and Austrian ambassador to the Kingdom Friedrich Stift. On the other hand the Austrian President visited Al Diriya governorate where he was received by Prince Ahmed Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud the governor. The president visited historical places and attended an Ardha performance. He then visited Al Masmaq palace and the museum. |
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