Prince Sultan Bin Abdul-Aziz, the second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, has emphasized the government's plan to establish a university in Hail to promote higher education of young Saudi men and women in the region.
Prince Sultan made this announcement while presiding over a meeting of the Hail Regional Council. "The government has given priority to welfare and service projects all over the Kingdom, including Hail," he told the meeting.
"You will see the details of the new welfare and development projects in the Hail region shortly," the Prince said at the meeting, which was attended by Governor of Hail Region Prince Saud bin Abdul Mohsen and other officials.
Prince Sultan yesterday officially inaugurated the College of Technology in Hail and toured its facilities including workshops. The new college, which was established at a cost of SR28.5 million, can accommodate 300 students.
He also watched a visual presentation on the training programs of the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT).
Dr. Ali Al-Ghafees, Governor of GOTEVOT, commended the government's efforts to expand training facilities for young Saudis to help them take up various jobs.
"The organization has received a budget allocation of SR6 billion which will be used to establish more than 100 training centers and 50 technical colleges in various regions of the Kingdom," Ghafees said.
"We have allocated SR300 million for technical and training institutes in the Hail region," he added.
Prince Sultan, who arrived in Hail on Tuesday on an inspection tour, laid the foundation stones for two major hospitals - a 500-bed specialist hospital and a 160-bed Saudi-German Hospital - in Hail. The projects are to cost SR330 million.
He also laid the foundation stone for a large flour mill in Hail yesterday in the presence of Agriculture Minister Dr. Fahd Balghoneim, who described the facility as one of the major factors of food security in the Kingdom.
Saleh Suleiman, director general of the General Organization for Grain Silos and Flourmills, commended the government for providing foodstuffs to the public at subsidized rates.
Hail is one of the Kingdom's major agricultural regions. It exports fruit, including citrus, apples, peaches, grapes and olives, as well as dates and grains. Hail's farmers have managed to develop new strains of wheat, barley and fruit trees that are better suited to the region's climate and produce higher-quality products at greater volumes.
