Youth told to join in shaping KSA’s future

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal said the Saudi youth was facing a negative global campaign because of his adherence to the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
He cited the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to support the young generation, whom he described as the Kingdom’s hope and solution.
Prince Khaled’s remarks came during an open dialogue with a number of young Saudi men and women at Taif University on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Souq Okaz festival. The dialogue session was also attended by Minister of Culture and Information Adel Al-Toraifi.
Prince Khaled called on the Saudi youth to face challenges in order to contribute to the shaping of the Kingdom’s future. He also highlighted the march of the Kingdom since its inception to become a member of the Group of Twenty (G-20) nations.
He praised the high intellectual, cultural and scientific level of the Saudi youth and praised the launch of the first Academy for Arabic Poetry.
The minister of culture and information highlighted major efforts undertaken by the ministry in the media and cultural fields.
Al-Toraifi described the Souk Okaz cultural gathering as a symbol of Islamic tolerance and an expression of the wonderful image of the Kingdom.
The minister said that a Royal Arts Academy, that would include a national theater, would soon be established in the Kingdom, as part of the country's National Transformation Program.
He also said that the ministry would launch new cultural initiatives, including the establishment of a cultural and media city and the launching of Al-Ekhbaria news channel in Arabic, Persian and English.
“We would like to reach Persian-speaking populations, not to attack Iran; as we distinguish between the Iranian people whom we greatly respect and the Iranian leadership and its foreign interference,” Toraifi said.
He pointed out that the Kingdom was witnessing a boom in the cultural sector in terms of acquisition of books, based on the number of visitors to both Riyadh and Jeddah International Book Fairs.
The culture minister noted, however, that Saudi Arabia was facing a fierce attack on social media as the leader of the Arab and Islamic world and a member of the Group of 20. He noted that a number of forged and fake accounts on social media were broadcasting wrong news from outside the Kingdom, using names and images of Saudi citizens.
Al-Toraifi stressed the need to strengthen national unity and vision to face current and future challenges.