Ain-Al-Yaqeen - November 24, 2006

		November 24, 2006

PRINCE NAIF BIN ABDUL AZIZ PATRONIZES THE FINAL CEREMONY OF PRINCE NAIF'S CONTEST FOR THE MEMORIZATION OF THE PROPHET'S HADITHS.
THE SAUDI MINISTER OF PETROLEUM EXPRESSES THE KINGDOM'S CONCERN OVER THE POSSIBLE NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON THE ECONOMY OF THE OIL COUNTRIES AS A RESULT OF THE PROCEDURES FOLLOWED BY THE PARTIES TO LIMIT PETROLEUM CONSUMPTION.
THE SAUDI MINISTER OF FINANCE STRESSES THAT THE KINGDOM IS CURRENTLY ENJOYING A PROSPEROUS ERA, THANKS TO THE RECENT ECONOMIC OPENNESS AND REFORMS POLICY.
EGYPT CELEBRATES THE SAUDI CULTURAL DAYS.

Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior, patronized the closing ceremony of Prince Naif contest for prophetic tradition memorization, organized by the secretariat general of Prince Naif International Prize For the Sunnah (deeds and sayings of Prophet Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Him) and contemporary Islamic studies.

Upon arrival, Prince Naif was received by senior officials and organizing committee members.

Then Prince Naif gave away the prizes to the male and female winners. The event was attended by senior officials.

Interior Minister Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, President of the Supreme Council of the Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz International Contest for Islamic Studies and the Memorization of Hadith, gave cash awards and certificates to the winners of the second round of the contest.

According to Education Minister Abdullah Bin-Obaid, who attended the event, 45,000 students from elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools from across the Kingdom participated in the contest. The contest included girls for the first time.

Total cash prizes worth SR308,000 were given to the 30 men and women winners of the five top positions in three categories.

"This event comes at a time when the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is being targeted by campaigns that aim to tarnish his image, message and followers," said the education minister.

He said the contest had received recognition within the Islamic community worldwide and among international organizations due to its significant role in preserving the sayings of the Prophet.

He also said the contest had given awards to several international Islamic dignitaries for their services to the Sunnah.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh said that Hadiths were the second source for rulings and way of life of Muslims after the Holy Qur'an.

"Hadiths are the means of completing a Muslim's understanding of the Quran as narrated by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)," he said.

He also said that a true Muslim defends the Prophet, his words, teachings and sayings. This, he said, "is part of the love of God."

Al-Asheikh mentioned how the companions of the Prophet and their followers were extra cautious in conveying the Prophet's sayings and teachings. "Those sayings and teachings have now been passed on to us today," said the grand mufti. "We now know not only what the Prophet said, but also how he smiled, how he laughed, how he was compassionate, merciful, how he was wise, and even descriptions of his way of living to the smallest details."

Secretary-General of the contest Dr. Said Al-Harthi said the Kingdom was the first and still remains the only country in the world that framed its constitution according to the Quran and the Sunnah.

Al-Harthi stressed that Islam is a religion of peace, mercy and tolerance and rejects extremism.

"Lately Islam and Muslims have been linked with terrorism without any reason. And it is unfortunate to say that many Muslims have also led campaigns against Islam," he said. Al-Harthi said that among other things the contest was aimed at guiding non-Muslims toward Islam and preaching them its merciful universal teachings. "The contest is part of the Saudi government's initiative to support anything that serves Islam and Muslims," he said.

On the other hand Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Eng. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, attended the 12th meeting of the parties to the convention on climate change and the 2nd meeting of parties to Kyoto protocol arising from the said convention, which was held in Nairobi, Kenya.

In an address at the meeting, Al-Naimi underlined the Kingdom's concern to participate in the international community efforts to face the possible climate change.

He also expressed the Kingdom's concern over the possible negative effects on the economy of the oil countries as a result of the procedures followed by the parties to limit petroleum consumption.

Meanwhile, the meeting of experts in this conference was headed by the Advisor of the Saudi Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Dr. Mohammed Al-Saban.

In Cairo the Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Bin Amine Madani; the Egyptian Minister of Culture Farooq Hosni; and the Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Hisham Moheiuddin Nazer opened the event of Saudi Cultural Days in Egypt, which are hosted by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture in five governorates: Cairo, Alexandria, Fayoum, Al-Beheira, Ismailia.

The event will be on show in these governorates until November 27. In an opening speech, Madani asserted that this event came within the cultural cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, adding that this also symbolizes the level of historic relations between the two brotherly countries.

Madani hoped also that this event of Saudi Cultural Days will reflect what the cultural movement has achieved in the Kingdom. He also noted the facilities offered by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to host these days in various governorates and to the Saudi delegation participating in this event.

On his part, the Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouq Hosni expressed his happiness over hosting cultural events from all over the world especially the Saudi cultural days. He hoped of more Saudi cultural presence in Egypt and wished all success to these cultural days.

At the Egyptian opera house, the opening ceremony was attended by a number of Arab ambassadors and distinguished personalities. Madani arrived in Cairo to open these events.

The Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Bin Amine Madani toured the Artistic Invention Center of Egyptian Opera House and Peninsula Center of Arts within the framework of activities of the second day of Saudi Cultural Days.

At the Artistic Invention Center, the minister attended a debate between children from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt and watched some cultural activities addressed to children.

Then the minister toured the Peninsula Center of Arts where Saudi plastic artists held an exhibition.

Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Bin Amine Madani and Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni opened in Cairo, the Saudi Arts Exhibition which is held on the sidelines of the activities of the Saudi Cultural Days event in Egypt.

After opening the exhibition, the two ministers toured various sections of the exhibition, which included portraits of plastic art and Arabic calligraphy, sculpture and photographs. They also listened to a detailed briefing on the contents of the exhibition.

After the tour, the Egyptian Minister of Culture expressed his admiration for the high level of Saudi artists, who he said could compete globally.

Egyptian newspapers highlighted the opening of Saudi cultural days festival in Egypt.

The two-week festival is held by the Saudi ministry of culture and information and will tour five Egyptian provinces.

An Egyptian newspaper reported a statement by the Saudi minister of culture and information Iyad Madani stressing the strength of relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

In Riyadh the Saudi German joint committee began its 16th session. Dr. Ibrahim Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Assaf, Minister of Finance, led Saudi Arabia's delegation to the meeting while Michael Glos, Minister for Economy and Technology of the Federal Republic of Germany, led his country's side.

Addressing the opening session, Al-Assaf welcomed the German delegation, wishing them good stay in the kingdom.

Since its establishment in 1977, the Saudi German joint committee made great strides in promoting bilateral ties between our two countries, he said, adding that a number of bilateral agreements were since signed, notably the encouragement and protection of investments, avoidance of dual taxation, mutual exemption of aviation companies taxation, and sea transport agreements.

The kingdom is currently enjoying a prosperous era, thanks to the recent economic openness and reforms policy, the Minister said, adding that the gross domestic product amounted to 6.54 percent last year with all the economic activities serving as components of the GDP making considerable progress.

He said the private sector has contributed to the GDP by 44% at a high growth rate of 6.7% last year. He added that non-oil exports are expected to fetch 14.7 billion euros this year, an increase of 10.5 percent of the entire Saudi exports.

Al-Assaf extended thanks to friendly countries, including Germany, who supported the kingdom's accession to the WTO, vowing that the kingdom is exerting strenuous efforts to keep the world oil market stable.

He cited the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz to establish a Secretariat General for Energy Forum to be based in Riyadh, and the considerable assistance the kingdom is providing for developing countries in different continents as among the kingdom's efforts to bring about stability in the economic world.

On the bilateral front, the commercial exchange size amounted to 4.6 billion euro in 2005 as Saudi exports to Germany amounted 837 million euro. Finance Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf urged Germany to open its market for more Saudi products in order to cut the widening trade imbalance between the two countries, which is now estimated at more than three billion euros. Bilateral trade amounted to 4.6 billion euros in 2005 with German exports to the Kingdom exceeding 3.7 billion euros, he pointed out.

Calling for narrowing this gap, Al-Assaf encouraged Germany to increase its shrinking Saudi oil imports and open its markets more wide before Saudi petrochemicals and other industries. "We hope that this gap could be narrowed by encouraging opening of markets in both countries for exports. We have noticed a decline in German imports of Saudi oil, which accounts for a major part of our exports. We hope that Germany will increase imports of Saudi oil and other quality products such as petrochemicals," Al-Assaf told the meeting of Saudi-German Economic Commission in Riyadh.

In his keynote speech at the opening session of the meeting, Al-Assaf said the two countries had invested about 845 million euros in 115 joint investments. "There are many untapped commercial and investment opportunities," he said and emphasized Saudi Arabia's desire to become a leading business partner of Germany. The Kingdom is now Germany's sixth largest trading partner.

The minister called upon both Saudi and German businessmen to work for increasing trade and investment between the two countries and make use of the growing investment opportunities in the Kingdom, especially in petrochemicals, minerals, energy, transport and health. The government has made budgetary allocations to carry out a large number of infrastructure projects, he said and invited Germans to participate in these projects.

On his part, the German minister described the kingdom as a trade partner of Germany, noting that great projects in the fields of oil, gas, petrochemicals, iron ore, steel, roads and railways are taking place between the two countries.

In his speech, the German minister said the meeting would contribute to promoting economic cooperation between the two countries. He also expressed Germany's desire to strengthen bilateral relations.

The Saudi-German joint commission for economic and technical cooperation ended its 16th session.

The final minute of the meeting was signed by minister of finance Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf and German Minister of Energy Michael Glos.

The two sides reviewed issues pertaining to commercial relations as well as the agreements due to be signed by them in addition to aspects of scientific and technical cooperation.

A number of Saudi German trade agreements were signed with the aim of boosting trade and investment relations between the two countries.

The signing was attended by German minister of economics and technology Michael Glos as part of the dialogue program between Saudi and German businessmen.

Hussein Al-Athel, secretary- general of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, inaugurated a two-day matchmaking dialogue between Saudi and German businessmen at the Riyadh Sheraton Hotel.

Under this program, representatives from 14 visiting German companies held numerous business-to-business meetings in Riyadh, Jubail and Dammam.

"Germany, which is our third-largest trading partner after the United States and Japan, is our main partner in Europe," said Al-Athel. "We have been trading with Germany since the early 20's without any problems since the country provides us with quality and reliable products and services."

While addressing the guests at the inaugural ceremony, Al-Athel recalled that Saudi-German ties date back to 1921's friendship treaty. "These relations were further promoted in 1931 through diplomatic relations with the establishment of German Consulate Office in Jeddah, and they continued with the exchange of bilateral visits of heads of state beginning in 1950," he said.

Saudi imports from Germany increased last year to SR18 billion ($4.8 billion) from SR9.2 billion ($2.45 billion) in 2000.

"This is expected to grow continuously, since Saudi imports during the first eight months in 2006 have already crossed SR13.1 billion ($3.5 billion). There are more than 200 joint ventures that have brought in more than SR10 billion ($2.67 billion) to the Kingdom."

Gerd M. Doepner, delegate of Riyadh-based German Industry and Commerce, said Saudi efforts in Germany are paying off. "The opening of an investment promotion office in Frankfurt six months ago by Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) has attracted a large number of German investors toward the Kingdom in search of viable projects," he said, adding that German businessmen will participate in the $624 billion worth of infrastructure development projects that will be undertaken in the Kingdom in the coming years.

Referring to the current visiting delegation, Doepner said the executives of German companies would scout for business and joint venture possibilities.

"More than 150 Saudi companies have confirmed participation in the event and the visiting team hopes to do good business with its counterpart," he said.

The delegates include manufacturers of industrial pumps and tools, petrochemical extraction systems and upmarket outdoor furniture. Also represented are producers of health food and specialists in automation and networking systems, besides distributors of IT systems and software developers.

In new York the Kingdom expressed its disappointment with the lack of equitable geographical representation in the Secretariat of the Organization of the United Nations, where the number of unrepresented and under-represented has increased in recent years.

The Kingdom said it had sought through the available channels to recruit its nationals in the Secretariat of the United Nations but it is still the least represented in the organization and has been given five posts to its nationals despite the vigorous efforts to increase the recruitment of Saudi who have competent scientific and professional experiences and qualify with the work of the United Nations, but those efforts were unsuccessful.

This came in a speech delivered by Abdul Fattah Ahmed, member of the Saudi Permanent delegation to the United Nations before the Administrative and Budgetary Committee of the General Assembly of the UN in its 61st session , which was debating human resources.

The Kingdom stressed the importance of the training in the management of human resources in the United Nations as a means of career development and supports that training program must be mandatory for all categories of staff, including higher categories on the bases to provide equal training opportunities to all staff.

The Kingdom said that it believes that proper management of human resources and the optimal use of financial resources and providing the groundwork for training will lead to the advancement of the performance of the organization and help it to face the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Saudi Arabia said that the Kingdom has taken serious steps across the available channels to recruit its nationals in the General Secretariat of the United Nations, but it is still the least represented in the organization and has been accorded five posts only, despite the vigorous efforts to increase the recruitment of its nationals who enjoy scientific, efficient and professional expertise that are consistent with the work of the United Nations, but these efforts were unsuccessful.

The Kingdom called for taking the matter seriously in order to achieve justice and equality among states, despite the great interest directed to this area in the current and former reports of the Secretary-General and his demand to continue to maintain the list of candidates for the posts of occupational categories 4 and 5 in order to improve the geographical representation of the least represented and unrepresented and in the developing countries, and from competent and qualified people consistent with the stated job requirements.

The Kingdom expressed support for the continuation of the conservation of this list with the aim to achieving a relatively equitable geographical representation. It said it was not in favour of the Secretary-General's proposal to shorten the time for advertising vacancies from 60 to 30 days since it is possible that this may lead to the loss of opportunities for member States, particularly developing countries from unrepresented and under-represented and the non-arrival of these advertisements on these posts.

The kingdom stressed in its speech the importance of training in the management of human resources in the United Nations as a means of career development, and that the mandatory training program for all categories of staff, including the higher categories to be equal and training opportunities available to all staff. On the other hand, it is of the view that the transfer of staff should be voluntary and not mandatory, taking into account the special circumstances of members of staff. But if it is necessary to be mandatory it must be applied on all occupational groups and must be accompanied by moral advantages, according to bases that guarantee justice and equality and according to the regulations and laws.

The Kingdom said that the proposal for the new contractual arrangements for the division of occupational groups into two categories, a category with a specific time for a period of up to five years and a category of continuous appointments for a period that will extend more than five years needs for further study and research, and it is important to study and discuss at length the financial burdens resulting from the application of this proposal. Saudi Arabia hopes that the system will contribute if approved by the General Assembly to reduce the rate of job turnover, which reached 7.5% in the General Secretariat and 30% in peacekeeping operations, and to attract competencies.

The Kingdom welcomed the introduction of the new proposed system for resource planning after studying the financial burdens resulting from it in order to provide the Organization with new tools and increase efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability "but that did not dispel concern that it would not replace or eliminate the existing shortcomings and the obstacles that are taking place in several strategic areas in the department of human resources, including recruitment and transfer of staff, development and support of their capabilities and supporting their career path. It does not reflect the extent of information technology related to human resources.