Under the aegis of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, deputy prime minister and minister of defense, the Minister of National Guard Prince Abdullah Bin Bandar inaugurated here Tuesday the Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit (RGMBS) 2021, in the presence of a group of officials and health sector experts in the world. The summit is organized by King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC) at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs. The Minister of National Guard opened the Biomedical Biotechnology Oasis in KAIMRC as one of the initiatives of the medical biotechnology system in Saudi Arabia, which will contribute to providing economic development opportunities based on medical knowledge. Also, it will add a building block to the building blocks of diversifying sources of income and one of the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, where the Oasis will work within a national system and part of strategic partnerships with many local partners such as the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), in addition to many global partnerships. To mark the occasion, the Executive Director of Health Affairs at the Ministry of National Guard Dr. Bandar Bin Abdulmohsen Al-Kenawi delivered a speech in which he expressed his great thanks and gratitude for holding this summit under the patronage of the Crown Prince. He also hailed the development and change the Kingdom is unprecedentedly experiencing in health care, filled with innovative and creative discoveries such as molecular treatments, gene therapy, genetic repair, AI applications and big data analysis as well as the next generation of pharmaceutical manufacturing. For his part, Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq Bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah stated that the RGMBS comes at a time when it has become necessary to discuss the areas of developing this technology because of its direct and close relationship with human health, pointing out that it is expected that the global market value of biotechnology will reach nearly $700 billion by 2025, and global sales in biotechnology drugs are expected to reach nearly $315 billion this year. He added that through the integrated vision of our country and the realization of Vision 2030, the Kingdom's leadership has sought to have a national strategy for biomedical technology, one of the most prominent branches of this strategy to support and motivate it for the future and health of man. As for the Minister of Investment, Eng. Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, he said that RGMBS came at an important time to continue the ambitious march, which aims to make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a distinct and preferred destination for investment in the development and manufacture of vital technologies, and push the Kingdom to become a global center for health care and life sciences. The Chairman of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), Dr. Abdullah Bin Sharaf too delivered a speech in which he confirmed that SDAIA's participation in this summit supports the unremitting efforts to develop the capabilities of the health sector through its plan for health data governance and technology to raise its quality. He cited the Authority's previous announcement of the launch of the Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for the health sector in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Health Affairs at the Ministry of National Guard. He further said that the Center of Excellence aims to find solutions based on modern technologies, artificial intelligence and data technologies in the health field in order to help increase the accuracy of diagnosing chronic diseases, such as cancer, autism and strokes by using these technologies to enhance prevention of health threats and improve health practice. — SPA
