Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Governor of Asir region and director general of the King Faisal Foundation (KFF) announced a budget of SR266.47 million for KFF's various new and expansion projects for 2006, the Saudi Gazette reported today.
Prince Khalid made the announcement at a press conference he addressed after presiding over the Foundation's annual Board of Trustees meeting recently at Faisalia Party Hall in Riyadh.
He later opened a two-week long 'The Art of Sacred Quran Calligraphy and Illumination Exhibition' at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.
The Foundation's estimated budget of SR266.47 million for 2006 includes SR126.29 million as revenues, up from SR96 million in the first nine months of this year; SR116 million as expenditure, including operational expenditure, and an allocation of SR25.1 million for charity work, compared to SR19 million during the first nine months of 2005.
Prince Khalid urged the businessmen, especially those interested in promoting the Saudi culture, to continue their donations to the Foundation's various cultural and academic projects.
He said each project will carry the name of the donor. For instance, he said the projects such as the library, the conference center, the mosque and the science and business faculty are named after their donors in the Al-Faisal University project.
The Library in the University is named the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Building, the Conference Center is named Princess Haya bint Turki Building, and the mosque as Princess Al-Jowharah bint Khalid Mosque. The Science Faculty is named after former Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri of Lebanon, and the Business Faculty is named after Sheikh Saleh Kamel.
He said there is a need for exchange of students with other countries to promote better understanding of Saudi culture and Saudi Arabia.
He urged Saudi youths, specially those studying at the King Faisal School to go abroad as ambassadors of the country.
Prince Khalid spoke about various activities of the Foundation, but the media briefing was mostly centered on the establishment of the Al-Faisal University, named after King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, which is in its second phase of construction in the area of historical King Faisal Palace at Ma'ather District.
The University, which aims to have a capacity of 4,000 students, will start enrolling students within two years. The Al-Faisal University will teach in faculties such as science, business, engineering and medicine.
Prince Khalid said negotiations for the Al-Faisal University affiliation are underway with a number of leading universities in the US. The Al-Faisal University will enable its graduates to gain internationally recognized qualifications through an exclusive education within the Kingdom.
However, according to the website of the Foundation, the University will initially enroll around 200 students for courses in science and technology, starting from September 2006.
Prince Khalid also ruled out more disciplines for the King Faisal International Prize. He said the number of nominations for the prize were increasing every year.
The Foundation's Prize is emerging as a prestigious award in the international area, which is evidenced from the fact that nine of the KFIP winners have gone on to win Nobel Prizes for the same works that were recognized by the King Faisal International Prize. Four of the six Physics and Chemistry Nobel laureates for 2001 were former KFIP winners.
