Saeed Al-Khotani Saudi Gazette RIYADH — The president of the Paris-based Institute du Monde Arabe, also known as the Arab World Institute, lauded a 1 million euro (about SR5 million) donation from the Kingdom to renovate the front part of the institute's building. At a press conference in the Saudi capital on Monday night, Jack Lang thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for the generous donation, and promised the ties between his institution and cultural agencies in the Kingdom will lead to big accomplishments. Lang was in Riyadh to inaugurate the new facilities of the prestigious French language and culture promoting organization, Alliance Francaise, at the Diplomatic Quarters. “We will be partnering with the Riyadh-based King Abdulaziz Public Library to organize a large event next spring that relates to the pilgrimage to Makkah,” he said at the conference, which was also attended by French Ambassador to the Kingdom Bertrand Besancenot. We, at the Institute du Monde Arabe, will cooperate with the Kingdom in carrying out archaeological excavations, research and renovation to archaeological sites such as Al-Diriyah city next to Riyadh and Madain Saleh near Madinah, “ he said. “Also, we will promote the teaching of the Arabic language at the institute by establishing a language center similar to the one I just inaugurated. We will not hesitate to benefit from the Kingdom's expertise in promoting the teaching of Arabic language,” he added. Commenting on the financial difficulties facing the institute, Lang said financial troubles were a thing of the past and credited the French government for helping stabilize its budget with generous donations. “Despite the cuts it made in expenditures in many fields in recent years, the French government never touched its allocation to the institute. And this a big symbol of the great support the French government extends to the institution and its new president,” he said. While acknowledging the French government's help, Lang said he sought financial aid from abroad to meet the cost of hosting conferences, exhibitions and repairing old transcripts and artifacts. “We have received a good response. For example, the Kingdom helped us with a generous donation. This is in addition to the help the country extended in digitizing the Arabic content in the institute's library. Kuwait has helped greatly in renovating the library,” he added, while urging Saudis and Arabs to visit the institute and benefit from its cultural resources.
