Shura was keen to assume its role to reach out to the officials in order to serve the public adding that it did not stop there, rather it has extended its efforts to outside the Kingdom by taking part in a number of forums on regional and international arenas. The Speaker said that Last year witnessed the king's royal order to appoint Prince Naif as the Second Deputy Premier. The Speaker added that on the economic front, the Kingdom has achieved a host of projects and a lot of investments among which were establishing new 4 universities and extending the king's program for sending students on scholarships abroad for 5 years, and the king's approval that the state should pay 50 per cent of fees for those students studying at private colleges and universities for 5 years. Addressing the king, the Speaker said, "Furthermore, you have ordered to pay SR 1.166 billion for the families covered by social security system, to grant SR 1 million to each family whose one member has died as a martyr in the flash floods of Jeddah, and your order to build 10,000 housing units for the displaced at the southern border." The Speaker said, "The Kingdom has abided by the same foreign policy since its inception at the hands of its Founder King Abdulaziz which is based on values and invariables of mutual respect of sovereign nations, peaceful settlement of disputes, abiding by principles and international resolutions and cooperation within the world community to achieve interests of our peoples and societies. In accordance, you took part in the economic summit of London for G-20, where you explained wisely to the whole world the Kingdom's perspective on how to tackle the world crisis." --More
