Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Governor of Assir region and director general of King Faisal Foundation (KFF) announced the budget of SR266.47 million for various new and expansion projects of the Foundation for 2006, Saudi Gazette reported today. Prince Khalid made the announcement at a press conference he addressed after presiding over the Foundation's annual Board of Trustees meeting recently at Faisalia Party Hall in Riyadh He later opened a two-week long The Art of Sacred Quran Calligraphy and Illumination Exhibition at King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. The Foundation's estimated budget of SR266.47 million for 2006 includes SR126.29 million as revenues up from SR96 million in first nine months of this year, SR116 million as spending including operational spending and an allocation of SR25.1 million in charity works compared to SR19 million during first nine months of 2005. Prince Khalid urged the businessmen, especially those interested with promoting the Saudi culture, to continue their donations to Foundation's various cultural and academic projects. He said each project will carry the name of the donor. For instance, he said the projects such as the library, conference center, the mosque, the science and business faculty are named after their donors in Al-Faisal University project. The Library in the university is named after Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Building and likewise the Conference Center is named after Princes Haya Bint Turki Building, Princess Al-Jowharah Bint Khalid Mosque. The Science Faculty is named after former Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri of Lebanon, and Business Faculty after Sheikh Saleh Kamel. He said there is a need for exchange of students visits abroad to promote better understanding of Saudi culture and Saudi Arabia. He urged Saudi youths specially those studying at King Faisal School to go abroad as ambassadors of the country and reflect upon those who know very little about the Kingdom. --MORE 1149 Local Time 0849 GMT
