HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), received at his office Dr. Mustafa Ismail the Advisor to Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir on Saturday February 23rd 2008. The advisor to the President was accompanied by Mr. Abdul Rahman Sir El-Khatim, Gezira State Governor and His Excellency Mohamed Amin Alkarib, Sudanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. The meeting was also attended by a team from KHC that included Ms. Muna AbuSulayman, Executive Director of Kingdom Foundation, Mr. Ahmad F. Altobaishi, Executive Assistant to HRH the Chairman, Mr. Robert Elhage, Assistant Executive Manager, Travel Department, Mr. Taras Ettl, Vice President Acquisition and Development, Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI) and Ms. Manal Alshammary, Protocol Department Manager.
The meeting began as Mr. Ismail thanked Prince Alwaleed for giving him the opportunity to meet with him and relayed cordial regards from the Sudanese President. During the meeting the Prince and Mr. Ismail discussed social and economic issues related to their respective countries. Moreover, the Advisor said that he was delegated by the Sudanese President to meet HRH to discuss two main issues.
The first issue concerns the construction commencement of the village in Darfur that Prince Alwaleed had recently donated $3,193,000 towards. The donation was made through Kingdom Foundation (KF) Chaired by Prince Alwaleed to Sudan's Darfur region to provide much needed aid there. The donation will go towards building a complete village in Darfur that will serve 500 families, complete with 500 hundred houses, water station, clinic, school, police station, electric generator, mosque and mill. In response, His Highness instructed Ms. AbuSulayman to discuss the issue with the President's advisor in order to supervise the commencement of project at the earliest possible.
The second topic that Mr. Ismail discussed with Prince Alwaleed was investment opportunities in Sudan as the Sudanese government is keen for HRH to invest there in the light of his local, regional and international investments especially in the hotel sector. The President's advisor presented Prince Alwaleed with potential projects in Khartoum and different locations in Sudan including the coast of the Red Sea.
In response, His Highness expressed his readiness to invest in Sudan and explore potential projects with a team from KHI. Moreover, the Prince asked Mr. Ismail to relay cordial regards to the Sudanese President and stressed the importance of strengthening economic and trade relations between Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Following the meeting, Prince Alwaleed hosted a dinner in honor of his guest and the accompanying delegation at Kingdom Resort.
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© Press Release 2008
