ASTANA - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated Sunday in the OIC Summit on Science and Technology being held in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
During the opening session, a speech of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman was delivered by Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques stressed that the OIC Summit on Science and Technology held in Astana emanates from the values of Islam and the principles of the OIC Charter which emphasize the importance of science and knowledge as a fundamental element for the achievement of sustainable social and economic development.
King Salman said the Islamic world today needs a revival of knowledge at a time when competition is raging and becoming the cornerstone of economic success.
The King stressed that Islamic history is rich with wisdom that moved the world from the ages of darkness to the golden ages of science and technology.
The Kingdom sees that achieving advancement in the fields of knowledge, applied science and technology is based on four main pillars – first is developing education from the initial stages to higher education such that it is based on encouraging creativity so as to discover talents and develop them; second is to encourage scientific research and technology, develop innovated technology; third, to develop an integrated system which will encourage creative people and their ideas, guarantee converting the results of scientific research into practical applications that have economic returns; and fourth, to extend the bridges of cooperation and integration through international organizations, such as OIC.
The Monarch said the Kingdom allocates the highest budget for developing and training the youth and honing their skills, supporting research, establishing research universities and modern technology cities.
King Salman said the most valuable resource of our Ummah are our sons and daughters in whom we see a bright future.
