Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad, Minister of Culture and Information, stressed that President Donald Trump of the United States of America's choosing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as his first foreign trip since he took office stems from his recognition of the Kingdom's Islamic position and its international importance as a strategic ally of the United States. He added that this visit is an indication of full respect of the relationship between the two friendly countries for more than eight decades. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Dr. Al-Awwad disclosed that a meeting between the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and US President Donald Trump is expected to deepen understanding of the political, commercial and security aspects between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. He confirmed that bilateral agreements will lead to economic growth and investment and will contribute to new prospects for partnership between the two countries. Al-Awwad pointed out that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is the Muslims' Qiblah and birthplace of the Islamic religion, invited the leaders of more than 50 Islamic countries to attend these meetings in Riyadh in order to confront the threat of terrorism and extremism with the United States of America and to emphasize that Islam is innocent of terrorism in all its forms. "We hope that this historic event will be an important step in a way to eradicate terrorism where the peoples of the world without exception suffered of terrorism," Al-Awwad said. The Minister of Culture and Information disclosed that the ministry will receive more than 500 journalists from around the world to cover this historic event which is one of the most prominent media events in the Kingdom. He added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seeks, through an ambitious strategy, to invest media and modern technology in transmitting the event with new media to recipients everywhere within the Kingdom's efforts in Vision 2030 seeking to a comprehensive renaissance in all fields, including development of the Kingdom's economy and promotion of foreign investment. Al-Awwad added that the action plan of this vision will witness a huge investment in modernizing the infrastructure and establishing technological and advanced industries to diversify the economy and create job opportunities for the Saudis based on knowledge. The leaders of more than 50 Muslim countries will meet in Saudi Arabia in synchronization with US President Donald Trump's visit to the Kingdom on 20/21, May, 2017. The US President will hold talks with the Saudi leadership during the Saudi-US Summit aiming to deepen bilateral commercial relations which will push the economic growth and create more jobs in the two countries in addition to enhancing cooperation between the two sides in the field of global security. During this visit, the US President will participate in the Arab-Islamic-American Summit and will meet with more than 50 leaders of the Arab and Islamic states to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation in addressing terrorism and extremism. The US President will attend the GCC Summit which discusses issues of trade, security and cultural relations among these states. During the US President's visit, a high-level forum will be held between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America in attendance of more than 100 figures of the Saudi and US companies. During the forum, issues pertaining to joint investment, trade, and economy will be discussed. First Lady Melania and a number of US senior politicians and economists will accompany the US president during his historic visit.
