Jeddah mayor offers full support to university

Mayor of Jeddah Saleh Al-Turki, accompanied by a host of officials and mediapersons, visited the University of Business and Technology (UBT) on Monday.

The newly appointed mayor made his first visit to UBT and discussed the mayoralty’s support to the education sector and partnership with the university.

Dr. Abdullah Dahlan and Dr. Osama Junaidi, UBT’s chairman and director respectively, received the mayor and his delegation.

Junaidi briefed the mayor about the programs offered by the university.

Al-Turki later met with deans of faculty, heads of department and faculty members. He toured the Faculty of Engineering and was briefed on the most important achievements and services provided to the students, in addition to some of the projects implemented by the college.

He also visited the university’s library, which works on many initiatives including a special printing press. The library contains several sections equipped to meet all the requirements of students.

The mayor also toured the Institute of English Language and some of its facilities.

Addressing the faculty and students, Al-Turki said: “We have a responsibility to and a partnership with UBT to make the institution all that it can be. Colleges and universities are important parts of local and national economies — more so now than any other time in our history. They are job creators. We live clearly in a technology-based economy where innovation is so important and, coming back to the initial point, the workforce is the critical part of that equation. You are that workforce, you are that future.”

Al-Turki met with members of the faculty and spoke about his happiness over the great potential of the university.

“Jeddah has several universities and our role is important in supporting them, in order to create an attracti

ve environment for foreign investment. Achieving the economic goals sought by the Kingdom is a social and educational demand,” Al-Turki said.

He pointed out that Jeddah Municipality is working to renew Jeddah’s urban identity within 24 months. “Under the guidance of the emir of Makkah region, it is our duty to take care of Jeddah’s identity,” he said.

During the visit, Dr. Dahlan officially inaugurated a new hall named after the mayor. In addition, he announced the allocation of special scholarships from Jeddah Municipality worth SR1 million to the students of the University of Business and Technology.