Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait Prince Sultan

The first day of Libra, September 23 of every year brings the memory of a glorious day in our national history. That day crowned the major national epic with the announcement of founding King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud of unifying the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. We, as this memory dawns on us, remember the struggle and sacrifice of our forefathers who established and contributed to building this large entity, which provides us with a motive to preserve it along with the gains achieved by this country through the wisdom of its leaders and arms of its loyal citizens.

The founding king placed the kingdom on the path of comprehensive renaissance that went and is still going on in all political, economic, social, cultural and educational fields. His sincere sons continued the march after him, and built on the foundations he laid, as late kings Saud, Faisal, Khalid, Fahd and Abdullah continued construction, development and the kingdom's modernization in all fields, while adhering to the principles and values of the founding king, defending Islam and being dedicated to the service of the country and citizens.

The kingdom, under the reign of the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, continues the march of development and modernization in all fields. The kingdom is going through a stage of prosperity and determination to achieve, and build to provide all prosperity means for citizens. He started his reign by enhancing the administrative structure, placing the kingdom on the path of a promising stage of prosperity as a confirmation of his keenness to utilize all national resources to serve the citizens and country. He started the implementation of the national transformation strategy to implement Vision 2030 - vision of the present and future - which announced the kingdom's entry in a new stage of its development to diversify sources of income and increase the efficiency of government performance.

In 2017, the NEOM project was signed, which is a Saudi project to build a Saudi city that crosses borders announced by HRH Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Defense Minister. The NEOM project aims at transferring the kingdom into a pioneering world model in various aspects of life. The kingdom also signed a memorandum of understanding with a Japanese communications company with regards to the solar power project. In April 2018, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques launched the Qiddiya entertainment project which includes mountains, valleys and a view of the desert. These three economic cities are considered the largest in the world.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz was able with his vast political and administrative experience to advance the kingdom qualitatively in all fields despite the regional and international developments that surrounded the region lately, which enabled the kingdom to maintain its international status as one of the 20 most influential countries in the world politically and economically. The kingdom, under his reign, continues its defense of Arab and Muslim nations' causes, and leads with its vibrant diplomacy efforts to bring peace and security to the region and the world. These efforts were crowned by the Arab-American summit in Riyadh in May.

The kingdom, out of its religious and humanitarian commitments, contributes to rescue and development efforts all over the world, as the total payments the kingdom made during the past decades total $140 billion. Those efforts were crowned by the establishment of the King Salman Rescue and Humanitarian Action Center, which distributes humanitarian aid presented by the kingdom to other countries.

The kingdom plays a major role in maintaining security and stability in the region, and continues its fight against terrorism. It was one of the first countries to suffer from it and lost several of its citizens in terrorist acts, yet the kingdom was able to thwart many terrorist plans by astray groups. The kingdom's leadership felt the importance of consolidating international efforts to fight terrorism, so it organized the first international conference for fighting terrorism, and created the global center for fighting extremism (E'tidal) which was launched during the Arab, Muslim and American summit in Riyadh last May.

I, on this auspicious occasion, will allude to the strong relations between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which time has proven is a model of relations to be followed between countries. The communications between the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and all officials at all levels continues regardless of what takes place in the distinguished relations between the two brotherly countries.

I am honored, on this occasion, to congratulate the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, HH Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Defense Minister, the royal family and the Saudi people. I pray to Almighty Allah to protect our country against all evil and to bring this occasion back with all that is good, and maintain security, stability and prosperity for the kingdom, Kuwait and all Arab and Muslim countries.

By Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait HH Prince Sultan bin Saad bin Khalid Al-Saud