SCTH President in a press statement on this occasion said:
“Both the resolutions stress State's concern on the tourism and the national heritage”
His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, President of SCTH, praised the two recent resolutions made by the Council of Ministers on Monday, 13th Jan 2014, one which approved the King Abdullah Project for the Care of Cultural Heritage of the Kingdom, and the other that approved the provision of financial and administrative support to SCTH enabling it to carry out its mandates.
HRH President of SCTH in his statement on this occasion further stated that, the two resolutions stress the State’s concern towards the development of the national tourism and enhancing the status of the national cultural heritage as an important national treasure. He added saying that, the sequence of resolutions by the State in the support of tourism and national heritage represent as significant indicator to its attention towards the economic and cultural issues.
Describing the resolutions as an extension to the great attention enjoyed by the national heritage as it is a key component of the Saudi national identity and a great support to the national tourism as an important economic sector. As such attention by the government is expected to contribute greatly to the development of these important sectors.
HRH President of SCTH added that, the King Abdullah Project for Care of Cultural Heritage of the Kingdom is seen as one of the most significant achievements of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and it will be added to his great accomplishments in support of the national history and heritage.
"The launch of this historic program is consistent with the great efforts made by the State and the Saudi people in the restoration of the awareness on the importance of the national heritage. Today we are working under the wise leadership and directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and HRH Crown Prince (May Allah Protect Them) in order to change people’s views on the cultural dimension of the Kingdom and to consider it as one of the most important features of this blessed State, including its physical and cultural heritage, which embrace antiquities, urban heritage, and handicraft."
"The resolution crowns the huge efforts that have been made to create a quantum leap in the course of the attention towards the tangible heritage and its development to make it a part of the people’s life ever since SCTH had taken responsibility over this sector in 2007. Now our efforts are crowned by this project in its final form. It includes a set of programs and projects aimed at raising the awareness and promoting national heritage protection and rehabilitation. It also aims to create integration between government institutions and the citizens in this respect."
HRH pointed out that this program had the follow-up of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and the Chairman of King Abdul Aziz Dara who pays a great interest to the Islamic history and heritage sites in all the regions of the Kingdom, besides his care for the national history of the Kingdom.
HRH continued, “The project aims to enroot the awareness of national heritage for the future generations in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Education, under the leadership and support of His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al-Faisal. Besides, it aims to achieve a number of goals through creating close partnership with a number of various government institutions on the specific projects. This will be announced by SCTH during the next three months according to a specific work program for all the projects included in the main project.”
Regarding the Cabinet’s resolution to support SCTH financially and administratively to enable it to carry out its mandated tasks, HRH the President of SCTH, said, “This resolution is an extension of the successive resolutions adopted by the State recently to support national tourism as an important tributary of the national economy and for its ability to create employment opportunities for the citizens in various regions of the Kingdom.
HRH President of SCTH added that the resolution came on the recommendation of an independent committee that was formed by the Royal Decree chaired by late HRH Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him). The committee comprised of academics, experts and representatives of the private sector to undertake a comprehensive study to support domestic tourism. The committee at the end of its task recommended the Cabinet to issue this resolution which reflects the State’s and citizen' views for accelerating the State's support for the development of national tourism, because of the great benefits, economically and socially that the tourism is expected to bring in.
HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman said that everyone will feel the impact of these decisions, God willing, through the development of tourism facilities and services, and accelerated development of the national tourism in the light of the overwhelming response and the increasing awareness of the Saudi citizen towards tourism in his homeland with the increased awareness on the various and great tourism potentials that his country offers.
In conclusion, the President of SCTH in his statement thanked all those who contributed to the issuance of the resolutions, especially the government agencies that participated in the committees that studied these subjects during the four years. This included the Ministries of (foreign affairs, education, municipal and rural affairs, interior, higher education, finance, culture and information, water and electricity, transport, labor, economy and planning, commerce and industry, and the general Secretariat of the economic Council), in addition to King Abdul Aziz Dara, Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority, expert bodies in the Council of Ministers. All of these agreed on the importance of supporting the activities of SCTH and to accelerate the launch of the program of King Abdullah Project for the Care of Cultural Heritage in the Kingdom.