Saudi Gazette report

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said the Kingdom’s winning card lies in its youth.

Addressing the MiSK Global Forum in Riyadh on Thursday, he thanked Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy prime minister, minister of defense and chairman of the board of directors of Misk Foundation, for the invitation to participate in the second session of MiSK Global Forum, which affirms the Kingdom’s will to attract international talents and benefit from them, adding that the Kingdom is striving toward the change in the future and to take initiatives leading to this vision.

“I express my full support and France’s support for this forum, I admire this ambitious vision of the Kingdom 2030, including “Neom”, the project of the Kingdom’s future’’, Le Drian said stressing that the Kingdom and France have strong friendships and relations.

“The majority of the Saudi society are young and open to the world, the most widely users of channels of social communication, and studying in the world’s most important universities. I hereby invite Saudi youth to study at our prestigious universities and high schools as we have a diversity of education, cultural wealth and experience. As you know France welcomes many Saudi tourists and it is a great choice for tourism in the world, but we want young Saudis to study in our universities,” he said.

“We must be a key player in the new economy and take advantage of opportunities offered by Misk Foundation under the leadership of the Crown Prince and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Misk Foundation to develop meetings between young Saudis and French youth in various fields including business, arts, literature and sports.

The French minister noted that France and the Kingdom can achieve this goal together with the Crown Prince, expressing his confidence in young Saudi people in shaping a bright future for the country and confirming France’s full support for achieving the aspirations of the Kingdom.