Ain-Al-Yaqeen - August 12, 2005

		August 12, 2005

THE ERA OF THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES WAS SHINING WITH A SERIES OF ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELDS OF DEVELOPMENT, MEDICINE, SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND EDUCATION.
CARE ABOUT THE SAUDI CITIZEN AND HIS AMBITIONS IS THE CORE OF ALL EXERTED EFFORTS IN THE KINGDOMS' DEVELOPMENT.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has achieved what many thought would take far longer, these achievements were reached with the contribution of long-term strategic planning that has played a major role in the development process.

The Kingdom's Development Plans have considered every aspect of the economy, identifying its infrastructural, agricultural, industrial and commercial needs and formulating strategies, all compatible with each other, to achieve clearly defined national goals. Oil revenues have made the government the driving force behind the economy and, out of those oil revenues, the government has provided the essential infrastructure without which the economy could not mature.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia operates a market economy in which free enterprise flourishes. Indeed, as the country's agricultural and industrial base expands, the part played by the private sector in the economy grows in importance.

In this development process the care for the Saudi citizen, realizing his ambitions and welfare are at the core of all the efforts exerted to achieve development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The achievements realized reflected the importance the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud and his entrusted Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz accorded to all what would benefit the citizens and the country.

The spread and promotion of education has been an important cornerstone of the Kingdom's policy to accomplish overall progress in line with the latest advances in science and technology.

Within this framework, the pioneer of education in the Kingdom, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, since he was the Minister of Education, has been keen to boost education and follow it up, step by step, to match the educational developments of advanced countries.

In the light of this special patronage by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the educational sector has made great progress.

In 1420/1421AH, the number of students at all educational levels, under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, totalled 2,228,397. There were 98,015 classrooms in 12,621 schools and 161,712 teachers assisted students in their educational pursuits.

The number of students in elementary, intermediate and secondary levels, increased sharply, while, because of the success of the adult education programs, the number of adult students was reduced from 35,168 students in the year 1419/1420AH to 33,536 students in the year 1420/1421AH.

The Ministry of Education has established thousands of schools and other supporting buildings.

In 1420/1421AH, the number of schools under the supervision of the Ministry of Education reached 6,209 elementary schools with a total of 1,189,364 students and 89,800 teachers.

In the same period, the number of intermediate schools was increased to 3,388 schools with 581,864 students and 43,121 teachers, while there were 1,719 secondary schools, with a total of 389,860 students and 24,761 teachers.

The Ministry of Education is keen to develop services for students and establish a special sector for student's affairs.

The Ministry of Education also encourages sports, scouting activities and other types of art and scientific activities. In this context, it has established playgrounds, in-door halls and swimming pools. It has also established 150 health care units to provide health services to students.

The Ministry has also given attention to schools for Holy Quran Memorization. In this context, it established in the year 1367AH, the first school of this kind in Madinah. By the year 1420/1421AH, the number of Holy Quran Memorization schools reached 510, with a total of 52,049 students and 4,619 tutors.

The Ministry also gives great attention to adult education and the elimination of illiteracy and has opened a number of special schools and centres for this purpose all over the Kingdom. In 1420/1421 AH, the number of schools to combat illiteracy and promote adult education totaled 1,107, with 2,152 classrooms and 33,536 students.

There are also 180 special schools offering education to disabled boys and girls.

On the other hand the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has realized, for many years, the importance of preparing qualified Saudis in order to build the nation. It believes that the cultural and scientific progress of any nation is closely dependent on qualified citizens who can take on the task of building the nation.

This trend has been reflected in the successive development plans, which have emphasized the need to develop human resources (the nation's real wealth). The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz was the pioneer of education in the Kingdom. He laid the foundations for the Kingdom's educational system and since then has been following the progress of education with great interest.

As a result of this official interest from the Saudi Government, the Kingdom has witnessed great advances in education. The Kingdom now has eight universities in all parts of the country. Each university is academically and administratively independent and has modern dormitories. The government provides all the financial support needed by the universities.

These eight universities have 76 colleges, covering 400 specialized fields. These colleges have 10,000 staff and 239,000 students. The Kingdom also has 72 faculties with an estimated 195,000 students. The Ministry of Education has 18 technical faculties, which have an estimated 22,500 students. There are also 5,000 students at health faculties and institutes.

The statistics showed that there were 6,206 primary schools, with more than 1 million students and 177,000 teachers. There were 1,716 intermediate schools, with 491,000 students and 43,565 teachers. The number of secondary schools reached 1,571 with 365,560 students and 30,516 teachers.

Also according to statistics published in 1420 AH, there were more than 2 million female students and 200,000 female teachers and administrators at more than 13,000 educational institutions.

According to the statistics, the number of colleges for Girls' Education amounted to 73 with 162,246 students and 4,868 teachers. Meanwhile, the number of secondary teacher training institutes reached 75 with 3,650 students. With regard to the Holy Quran Memorization Schools, their number reached 523 with 58,366 students and 5,860 teachers.

As a result of the top priority given to the health of citizens by the Kingdom's leadership, Saudi Arabia has made impressive progress in the health sector. An official Health Ministry report said the number of the governmental and non-governmental hospitals totaled 318 with 45,729 beds facility by 1420 AH. During the same year, the report said the number of governmental hospitals reached 188, with 27,864 beds facility.

These hospitals are supported by 1,766 primary health care centers. Governmental hospitals employ 15,000 physicians, 38,054 nurses and 21,885 para-medical staff.

The number of physicians working in the governmental and non-governmental sectors stood at 31,502, including 6,281 Saudi physicians (about 20 percent of the total physicians), while the number of the nurses reached 65,526 and the number of the para-medical staff reached 36,350. Some other governmental authorities like the National Guard, the Ministry of Defence and Aviation, the Interior Ministry and the universities provide their personnel as well as the general population, with the required medical services.

By 1420 AH, there were 91 non-governmental hospitals with 8,766 beds. In addition, there are more than 706 private clinics, 43 private laboratories and 3,215 private pharmacies.

Meanwhile, the report said the number of dental clinics at the health centers and hospitals totalled 1,315, staffed by 1,402 dental physicians.

Moreover, work is also in progress to carry out the project of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz to build 2000 health centers throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In recognition of the importance of training medical staff, the Health Ministry has established 24 health institutes and 13 health colleges, including six health colleges for girls.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made great strides in the field of medical services, and has become a specialist center for treatment of several diseases, notably heart and liver diseases.

In addition, successful heart and liver transplant operations are now conducted at the Saudi hospitals and the Kingdom has set up a specialist center for organ transplantation, which works in coordination with various hospitals.

The Red Crescent of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the Muslim equivalent of the Red Cross) was founded in 1963. It provides emergency medical services in five administrative regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. By 1995, the Society had 146 First Aid Centers, staffed by 1,560 doctors, nurses and medics, with 471 ambulances.

The Red Crescent has a particular role to play during Hajj (the annual pilgrimage to the Holy City of Makkah), providing on-the-spot first aid and using its fleet of vehicles (760 in 1991) to take emergency cases to the nearest medical facility.

During the era of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz intensive efforts were exerted to develop the communications sector.

Twenty years ago, the length of the asphalted roads in the Kingdom was not more than about 20,000 kilometres, but now the length of the asphalted roads has reached 45,000 kilometres.

At the same time the length of the agricultural roads jumped from only 25,000 kilometres to about 107,000 kilometres.

The Kingdom has 25 regional ad international airports, and the Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) has 125 planes with more than 2000 pilots of whom 900 are Saudis.

The seaports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia play a vital role in the Kingdom's exports and imports, during the last 24 years handled nearly 1.4 billion tons of goods and have become outlets to approximately 95 percent of the Kingdom's exports and imports.

The General Organization of the Seaports said in its report for the year 1419/1420 AH that the Kingdom has eight seaports comprising 83 piers that can receive the largest ships of the world.

The report explained that the goods which were handled by Saudi commercial and industrial seaports were 88.5 million tons in 1419/1420 AH. Exports reached 59.4 million tons of these goods. It noted that the exports were mostly refined oil products, petrochemicals and industrial materials.

The Organization noted that the imports were 29.1 million tons comprising foodstuffs, construction and raw materials and consumer goods.

It disclosed that the number of 'goods delivery' containers increased by 4.6 percent in 1419/1420 AH compared to the previous year's figure as these containers totaled 1,442,786.

The report said that the major seaports of the Kingdom received 10,229 ships in 1419/1420 AH, an increase of 291 ships as compared to the figures of previous year.

The Organization said that the number of passengers who used these seaports reached 1,557,004 in 1419/1420 AH, an increase of 227,086 passengers over the figure of the previous year.

Of all the indicators of social and economic progress in a modern society, probably the most obvious is the development of postal and telecommunication services. Certainly, efficient communications are a prerequisite of success.

King Abdul Aziz was well aware that an efficient telecommunications system was essential to his plans for consolidating and developing the Kingdom and it was during his reign (in 1930) that the first telephone exchange was installed in Al-Dira.

In 1953, the Ministry of Communications was formed and amongst its responsibilities were postal and telecommunication services. Within a year, the Saudi Arabian Radio Telecommunication Scheme RT-1 was installed, providing a multi-channel telephone and telegraph network, linking Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, the Holy Cities of Makkah, Al Madinah Al Munawarah and Taif.

In January 1996, the Global System for Mobiles (GSM) was launched in the Kingdom with the aim of installing 500,000 GSM mobile telephones. By late September 1996, more than half were in operation. By the end of the project, 45 Saudi cities and towns and all the major highways will be covered.

The development of the Kingdom's economy has generated a massive increase in the volume of mail which the postal services have had to handle. In a continuing process of expansion, the Fourth Development Plan provided for five new central post offices (in the Holy City of Al Madinah, Abha, Buraidah, Jizan and Skaka) to complement the three main postal complexes in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Indeed, an efficient postal network now covers all the cities and villages of the Kingdom, with 488 main and 175 branch post offices. The total number of domestic correspondence has increased from 19.1 million postal items in 1970 to 345.6 million items in 1999.

The development of telex services in the Kingdom has kept pace with every innovation in telex technology. From the early days of electro-mechanical devices, through the installation of electronic machines in 1978, to the introduction in the 1980s of the most sophisticated equipment, capable of handling Arabic and Latin text simultaneously, the Ministry of Post, Telegraphs and Telephones (PTT) has ensured that the Kingdom's ever-growing need for efficient telex communication services has been handsomely met. Telecommunications experts agree that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia possesses one of the most advanced telex networks in the world. This network is actively able to support the business community and, with it, progress and prosperity in the Kingdom.

Having equipped the Kingdom with one of the most modern telex networks in the world, the Ministry of PTT has been able to proceed with the introduction of a high-speed data transmission service (Teletex), to which existing telex subscribers will have easy access.

In 1985, with the launch of two communications satellites, ARABSAT (the Arab Satellite Communications Organization formed by the Arab League in 1976) became operational. The ARABSAT satellites are positioned in geo-stationary orbit above the equator.

Communications satellites facilitate the almost instantaneous transmission of many forms of data, including alphanumeric text, voice, still pictures and moving pictures. Their use, in news dissemination, business, entertainment and education is limited only by the imagination and resources of the user.

The Kingdom is playing an active role in the development and exploitation of this exciting medium of communication.

The King Fahd Satellite Communications City in Jeddah is the largest complex in the Middle East. It comprises four ground stations, two dealing with INTELSAT, one with ARABSAT and the other with ANMASAT for maritime communications to provide services to all ships, planes and vehicles. These stations provide telephone, telex, TV and cable services.

In 1999, the Internet service became available in the Kingdom, with all the connections routed through the State server, sited at the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology. The Ministry of Post, Telegraphs and Telephones provides the external means to access the Internet and the service is available for research establishments, academics and public and private companies.

In any program for industrial development the electricity plays an indispensable role and the need to extend electrification throughout the Kingdom was recognized early in the Kingdom's life. How the Kingdom has approached this task and, in particular, the way the strategy has evolved is worthy of note.

As the Kingdom's demand for electrical power in the industrial and agricultural sectors of the economy grew, the Government replaced the old fragmented system of electrical power generation (provided by numerous small companies) with SCECOs Saudi Consolidated Electricity Companies each providing electricity for a whole region of the Kingdom.

The first SCECO (SCECO-East) was created in 1977, with a capital of SR 5 billion. This was followed in 1979 by SCECO-South, with a capital of SR 4 billion, serving more than 1,447 cities and villages and SCECO-Central, with a capital of SR 8 billion, serving more than 600 cities and villages, including Riyadh. Electricity for the southwest of the Kingdom was provided by SCECO-West, established in 1982, with a capital of SR 8 billion. The General Electricity Corporation (GEC) was given overall responsibility for the Kingdom's electricity system and a direct responsibility for the provision of electrical supplies to rural areas not covered by the consolidated companies. The GEC has represented the Government equity holdings in all the independent electricity-generating companies and has been a source of finance for those companies' capital requirements.

To improve and strengthen the power industry, in 1998, the Council of Ministers issued Resolution Number 169 for the restructuring of the electricity sector, aiming to reform its finances and increase the participation of the private sector in its ownership, management and energy conservation. In 2000, the Minister of Commerce issued Resolution Number 2047, announcing the establishment of the Saudi Electric Company.

One of the underlying purposes of the building of the Kingdom's infrastructure, and the expansion of the industrial and agricultural base, has been to encourage social development in its widest sense. Over and over again, King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz has declared in his public pronouncements his Government's commitment to ensuring that all Saudi citizens participate in the Kingdom's development, both in terms of enjoying the benefits and contributing to its success.

The social services provisions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are extensive by any standard. They are designed to redress existing imbalances, to improve living standards and the quality of life of the population, to stimulate citizen participation in community development activities, and to provide remedial care and assistance for the disabled and the deprived.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, on behalf of the Government, is in charge of carrying out programs and projects designed to improve living conditions for the population and to smooth the processes related to the rapid transformation of the socio-economic system. There are a number of social rehabilitation, care and remedial services, designed to assist the physically or mentally disadvantaged, to protect vulnerable members of society, and to deal with problems such as juvenile delinquency. Special attention is given to raising the living standards of the poorest sections of the community, particularly in the villages and the less developed districts of the towns and cities.

These services are provided through a network of facilities which, in 1999, comprised 16 orphanages, 22 social guidance and probation institutions, 5 residential nurseries for handicapped children, 2 centers for paralyzed children, 28 centers for rehabilitation of the disabled, 11 offices for vagrancy control and 10 homes for the elderly.

In addition, there are 173 benevolent societies, of which 20 are for women. These receive technical assistance and financial grants from the Government. In 1999, the subsidies provided to them amounted to SR 54.8 million. These societies provide help and care for the disabled and families in need and seek to improve the status of women by offering training in appropriate skills and organizing cultural lectures and symposia.

There are a number of social service agencies whose task it is to remedy social problems, many of which are created by the process of social development itself. The Government takes the view that poverty and deprivation are not necessarily due to the failure of individuals to meet their own needs. Most of these problems are a result of broader external conditions in society as a whole, and will not solve themselves. Public and private interventions are necessary to improve the conditions of the individual and the community. The social service agencies will continue to pay attention to the development of Saudi society, to assist in improving the standard of living, and to take steps to redress some of the social imbalances which have inevitably become more pronounced during a period of rapid economic change.

In addition to these social services, there is a compulsory occupational insurance scheme, covering provisions for sickness and retirement, for employees in both the public and private sectors.

The Government also created the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), in 1969. GOSI is responsible for protecting workers from poverty in cases of incapacity, old age and work injuries. It is in charge of the Government's Social Insurance Law, which covers 5.8 million workers.

The role of the Kingdom in serving the Holy Places and facilitating pilgrimage has always been of paramount importance to the Saudi Royal Family. During his reign, King Fahd's father, King Abdul Aziz, made clear in no uncertain manner that attacks by brigands on pilgrims would not be tolerated and, within available resources, every effort was made to ensure the safety and comfort of pilgrims.

In King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz reign, this tradition has been maintained and, with the benefit of increased revenues, a program of expansion and refurbishment on an unprecedented scale has been implemented. Of all the projects with which King Fahd is personally identified, none has been closer to his heart than the expansion of the Holy Mosques in Makkah and Al Madinah and to emphasize the monarchy's commitment, and his own, to this responsibility, in 1986 King Fahd adopted the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in preference to the title of His Majesty.

In the Agricultural field the cultivated areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia increased, in 1418 AH, to more than 4,885,000 hectares, while the areas of land suitable for cultivation reached about 53 million hectares.

Thanks to the wise agricultural policy adopted by the Saudi Government, despite scarcity of irrigation water, the Saudi agricultural policy has proved a great success.

Economic observers and agricultural organizations view the Saudi agricultural experience as a unique one because it has turned the country from an importer of agricultural products to an exporter of these products.

In recognition of the big strides made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the field of agricultural development, a number of agricultural organizations have awarded the Kingdom merit certificates and medals.

Earlier, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) awarded the Kingdom the Medal of Agricola in recognition of its pioneering role in the field of agricultural development. The Kingdom has also received a merit certificate from FAO.

The Kingdom has changed, in a very short span of time, from a wheat importer to a wheat exporter.

In the light of current and future trends for a strategy of agricultural development that aims for the realization of food and water security, in a manner that realizes agricultural development and diversification of the production base, changes have taken place in the production of agricultural crops in the Kingdom.

In the period from 1994 to 1997, production of crops declined from 4.86 million tons to 2.34 million tons, but production of vegetables increased. By the end of 1997, the areas allocated for production of cereals and fodder amounted to 955,000 hectares, while the areas allocated for fresh vegetables, notably tomatoes, water melons, potatoes and cucumbers, amounted to about 161,000 hectares.

In 1997, the Kingdom produced 1,150,000 tons of fruit in an area of more than 146,000 hectares, and 650,000 tons of dates in an area of 106,000 hectares. In 1997, the Kingdom produced 451,000 tons of poultry and about 2.39 billion eggs.

Animal resources amounted to 280,000 heads of cows, 15.5 million heads of sheep and 790,000 camels. In the same year, the Kingdom produced 816,000 tons of dairy products, 157,000 tons of red meat and 54,000 tons of fish.

Realizing the importance of water in agricultural development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Water has been giving great attention to the development of sources of ground water through the setting up of dams in the valleys. It has already set up 187 dams of various sizes with storage capacity of 777 million cubic meters and at a total cost of about SR three billion. Thirteen dams are currently under implementation, and arrangements are underway to build another 12 dams.

The Saline Water Conversion Corporation has announced that, in 1419/1420 AH, there were 27 desalination stations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, producing 775 million cubic meters of desalinated water, providing more that 70 per cent of the required drinking water.

Meanwhile, the electricity generation capacity of the desalination stations reached 22.3 million megawatts during the same period, which is approximately equivalent to 21 per cent of all electricity generated in the Kingdom.

The report traced the beginning of the desalination process in the Kingdom to 1348AH, during the era of the late King Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud.

A Royal Decree in 1394AH established the Corporation, which has continued to its development. During the last two decades, production of desalinated water has increased more than one hundred times, while electricity production has increased more than eight times.

The desalination stations include: the station at Al Jubail, considered the largest desalination station in the world, Jeddah's station complex, and stations in Makkah, Taif, Madinah, Yanbu, Shaqeeq and Al Khobar.

The Corporation has set up a pipeline network, with a total length of more 2000 kilometres, for transportation of desalinated water to various regions and has set up 108 reservoirs, with a capacity of more than 6 million cubic meters.

The reports issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Water expected that, in the next few years, following the completion of projects currently under implementation, the productive capacity of desalinated water would increase to more than 800 million gallons of water per day, in addition to more than 5000 megawatts of electricity.

In recognition of its great achievements, the International Desalination Association (IDA) awarded the Corporation a prize in 1999.

On the other hand according to reports published recently by the Ministry of Industry and Electricity, the real electricity generating capability is expected to reach 70,000 megawatts by the year 1440 AH.

The reports estimated the total cost of covering electricity needs for the next 25 years at SR438 billion. The reports pointed out that power generation in the Kingdom has increased 18 times since 1395 AH, with average annual growth of 13.7 percent.

The total power output in 1420 AH reached 21,679 megawatts, out of which water desalination power generation stations in the Kingdom contributed 2,271 megawatts. The Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz has given great attention to electric power and is determined to extend it to the whole country as soon as possible.

Electricity was supplied to more than 7,357 cities and provinces by the end of 1420AH, the report said. The number of subscribers increased by an annual average of 10.6 percent, to reach more than 3,518 million by the end of 1420AH. About 105 million megawatts per hour was sold in 1420AH, with an increase of 8.8 percent on the previous year, the report added.

Gazlan, Saudi Arabia's first steam station, has been in the Kingdom since 1400 AH, with 400 megawatts, while Gazlan II is expected to finish in 1422 AH with 600 megawatt.

Work is underway, and expected to finish by 1422AH, the ninth 1200-megawatt-power generation station in Riyadh, the report concluded.

Also the finance institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have, since the early 1970s, given to the citizens more than SR266 billion, and contributed to the Kingdom's rapid development.

The Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz has realized the important role of citizens in the development process. It has, therefore, set up a number of programs to support citizens in carrying out their role in the comprehensive development.

This support has come from different financial institutions, including: the Agricultural Bank, the Lending Bank, the Real Estate Development Fund, the Industrial Development Fund, and the General Investments Fund.

The Real Estate Development Fund was established in 1975, with a capital of SR 250 million, to encourage citizens to build their own houses for both private or residential use and investment.

The activities of the Fund covered 3,694 cities. The loan should be paid to the Fund within 25 years. The total amount of private loans, until last year, was SR 116,728 billion, resulting in the building of 545,000 housing units all over the Kingdom. The amount of investment loans reached SR 5 billion, which contributed to building more than 35,000 housing units, offices and shops.

The Industrial Development Fund was established in 1974 and gives special attention to supporting industrial development in the private sector. It also offers administrative, financial, technical and marketing consultations to projects it finances. Until last year, the total value of loans by the Industrial Development Fund reached more than SR 35 billion.

The Agricultural Bank was established in 1962 to encourage farmers to use modern and advanced technology. The Bank gives short and long term, interest-free loans to farmers to help them with acquiring advanced agricultural tools and necessary materials. The Bank's total loans, up to last year, were SR 31.5 billion and SR 11,800 billions as support.

The Saudi Credit Bank supports citizens with limited income and helps them with the expenses of marriages or with rebuilding their houses. The Bank, which was established in 1971, had given SR 6.115 billion in loans, up to 1419AH.

The General Investments Fund was established in 1971 to support commerce projects. Its loans reached SR 59 billion up to last year.

On the other hand the industrial development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has resulted in setting up 3381 factories in a short period of time, has turned the Kingdom from and importing to an exporting country of industrial products.

According to the statistical report obtained by the Saudi Press Agency, the invested capital in these factories reached more than SR 239 Billion up to 30/9/1421H and the number of workers at these factories rose to 310,000.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia currently exports to more than 118 countries SR 20 Billion worth of non-oil industrial products annually.

The report highlighted the contribution of manufactured industries, with the exclusion of oil refining, to the development of the national economy.

It noted that the rate of the industrial growth reached nearly 10%, while the rate of the industrial production amounted to SR 82 Billion and the sales of national industries at the local market amounted to SR 51 Billion.

The public relations and protocol department of the National Guard has published a report on the achievements of the National Guard during the era of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz on the 20th anniversary of the monarch's accession to the throne.

The report said that the National Guard is a gigantic modern establishment and a military force, which is a living witness of the glory of the Kingdom that has been achieved in a short period under the leadership of King Fahd and his Crown Prince.

It highlighted the achievements of the National Guard in many fields including: regiments affairs agency, National Guard in the western sector, military field, signal corps, King Khalid Military College, its organization of al-Janadriyyah National Festival for Heritage and Culture, the National Guard officers' club, health affairs, gigantic military cities and opening housing cities for its personnel and other sectors.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques the Late King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz supported Saudi cultural, youth and sports movement.

Prince Sultan Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the President of the Youth Welfare said that King Fahd's achievements were because of his political experience and skill in running the Kingdom's affairs, which turned the Kingdom into a pioneering state in all fields in the modern world.

He reviewed the achievements in education, culture, youth and sports.

He prayed to Almighty Allah to award the Late King paradise and bless his soul.

Prince Nawaf Ibn Faisal Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Vice President of Youth Welfare highlighted the late King's great achievements accomplished in all fields at local and international arenas over 25 years of his reign.