King visits Istiqlal Mosque, addresses parliament
JAKARTA: King Salman in a speech here on Thursday urged unity against terrorism and threats to internal security.
“The challenges facing the Islamic nation, particularly, and the world generally, topped by the phenomenon of extremism and terrorism, the clash of cultures, non-respect for sovereignty of countries, and interference in their internal affairs, necessitate that we stand united in confronting these challenges and coordinate stances and efforts to serve our common interests and international peace and security,” the king was quoted as saying by the SPA.
He made his remarks at the Indonesian Parliament on day two of his landmark visit to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
On the second day of the tour, the king visited the Indonesian House of Representatives and delivered a speech in which he expressed his appreciation to the government and people of Indonesia for the warm welcome and generous hospitality.
He signed in the record book expressing his happiness to visit the House and looking forward to increasing Islamic solidarity.
The king also visited the Istiqlal Mosque, one of the most prominent Islamic landmarks in Indonesia, where he was received by President Joko Widodo. The president presented the king a memorial gift, a belt of the Holy Kaaba for Istiqlal Mosque.
He was briefed on the establishment of the mosque and phases of its construction, as well as its role in the memorization of the Holy Qur’an and publishing of Islamic knowledge.
The king and President Widodo also met prominent Indonesian Islamic figures at the Merdeka Palace, where the president expressed his pride in the RIYADH: Monthly foreign remittances have declined by 6.7 percent, down SR907 million from SR13.52 billion in December 2016, reaching SR12.61 billion in January.
According to an Al-Eqtisadiya report, despite having declined, January remittances remain high compared to the SR11.75 billion average remittances over the previous 12 months.
The report showed that annual foreign remittances in January increased overall by 4.86 percent over January 2016.
Remittances were the highest on record in June 2015, when SR15.8 billion were transferred abroad, a positive difference of 20.3 percent or SR3.22 billion higher than the figure of January 2017.
In July 2015, remittances reached the lowest point since February 2013, with only SR10.3 billon sent abroad. efforts by the king for serving Islam. The king pointed out that Islam is facing today a campaign seeking to undermine its values of moderation and tolerance.
On the sidelines of the visit, the SaudiIndonesian Business Council held a
In 2016, a total of SR151.9 billion were transferred by foreign workers to their home countries, compared to SR156.9 billion the previous year, which represented a 3 percent decline of around SR5 billion, constituting the first annual decline after a consecutive 11-year growth trend (between 2005 and 2015).
As for transfers made by Saudi citizens abroad, in January, the report shows a 13.4 percent growth in January, when it reached SR4.95 billion, compared to SR4.37 billion in December 2016.
Transfers in January were the highest since October 2016, when a total of SR5.36 billion was transferred abroad by Saudi nationals. This represents a consecutive three-month increase in transfers abroad.
On an annual basis, however, transfers declined this January by around 8.5 percent from January 2016, when transfers amounted to SR5.41 billion. meeting, on behalf of Majed Al-Qassabi, minister of commerce and investment, in which Ghassan bin Ahmad Al-Suleiman, governor of the general authority for small and medium enterprises, stressed that Saudi Arabia seeks to attract qualita- RIYADH: The Riyadh-based King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue (KACND) plans to turn training portfolios — undertaken by the Dialogue Academy for Training — digital through the production of programs, products and electronic educational curricula in Arabic and English.
The program will be performed according to international standards and in collaboration with the E Learning and tive investments in accordance with Vision 2030.
The joint council witnessed the signings of several agreements of strategic partnership in the fields of energy, health, housing and tourism. The agreements Training Co., also known as Semanoor, in a strategy partnership that will build the Dialogue Academy for e-training.
The e-training project will be a leading center and can be accessed in all regions of the Kingdom. It will allow participants to benefit from the training programs implemented by the Dialogue Academy for training.
The project will contribute to broadening the base of beneficiaries of the center’s programs through e-learning and the development of training portfolios on are valued at SR13.5 billion.
The partnership agreements and memorandum of understanding included joint projects in electric power production sector, health care and medical services, housing projects, cooperation in a regular basis. It will keep pace with the current phase, which is fast moving toward reliance on technology..
KACND, through the e-training project, plans to spread the benefits of training programs and enable new segments that could not have contact with the academy due to personal or work circumstances.
The aim of the training programs is to disseminate the culture of dialogue and the concepts of moderation, tolerance and acceptance of others.
It also aims to raise awareness of the the creation of long-term strategies in nationalization of expertise and advanced technology in the field of human resources.
The agreements also included tourism and Haj and Umrah services. dialogue in the Islamic culture, and to correct misconceptions about the culture of dialogue. In addition, it will bring the training culture to the Kingdom’s cities and provinces in order to develop scientific programs and materials.
Most training programs at the Dialogue Academy for Training are accredited by international organizations, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Organization of the Scout Movement.