Saudi Arabia celebrates this Wednesday the sixth anniversary of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s ascension to the throne.
On this day, the Saudis remember the tremendous development and prosperity that pervaded the country, in all aspects of life, and the great steps the Kingdom has achieved to become a global leader, few days ahead Riyadh’s hosting of the G20 summit.
King Salman bin Abdulaziz was born on December 31, 1935, in Riyadh. He is the 25th son of the founder. On March 16, 1954, he assumed the post of Governor of Riyadh Region and was appointed prince of the city a year later, on April 18, 1955. During the five decades of his reign, he oversaw the transformation of the region from a medium-sized town of about 200,000 people to one of the fastest growing capitals in the Arab world, whose population today reached about 7 million.
During his tenure, Riyadh witnessed the completion of many major infrastructure projects, such as highways and modern roads, schools, hospitals, universities, as well as museums, sports stadiums, entertainment cities, and others.
In November 2011, he was appointed Minister of Defense and succeeded in achieving a comprehensive development in all of the ministry’s sectors, including training and armament.
Since January 2015, when King Salman ascended the throne, the world, and Saudi Arabia in particular, faced challenges at the various political, economic and security levels.
However, the Saudi government, under the leadership of King Salman, was able to overcome these challenges and push the development process in various regions of the Kingdom.
The Kingdom has also led international efforts and ensured stability in the region and the world. It worked to strengthen the global economy through the G20, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and fostered recent peace agreements in the city of Jeddah, the Makkah summits, and others.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic was the most prominent headline this year. Although it was a difficult challenge, Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of King Salman, was able to respond early to the pandemic and deal with its repercussions by providing the needs of all citizens and residents, even violators of the residency system, which was indicated by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in his speech at the Shura Council last week.
“Your country’s efforts in early response to limit the effects of the pandemic have paid off. This has contributed to the low spread of infections and the decrease in the number of critical cases,” he said.
On the economic consequences of the pandemic, the King noted: “In order to mitigate the economic effects of the outbreak of the virus, your country has rushed to present government initiatives to the private sector, especially small and medium enterprises, which included more than 218 billion riyals ($58.1 billion), in addition to supporting the health sector with an amount of 47 billion riyals ($12.5 billion).”
“We have sought to maintain business activity and balance the economic, health and social impact. We will continuously evaluate the situation until the end of the pandemic, God willing.”
On Nov. 21-22, Riyadh will host the G20 summit, following a successful year of Saudi Arabia’s presidency of the international group. The summit is expected to witness the launch of plans and recommendations to confront the repercussions of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Going back over the past six years, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Saudi Arabia has achieved many reforms in various economic, social and cultural aspects, in addition to major improvements in the field of human rights and the empowerment of women. Royal decisions in this regard have found global resonance.
