On behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - may God protect him, the Governor of Riyadh His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz sponsored today the first International Conference on Giftedness and Creativity "Imagining the Future" in its first edition, which is held under the auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, as part of the international conferences program held on the sidelines of the year of the Saudi Presidency of the G20. It is organized by the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity "Mawhiba" and the Saudi Secretariat of the Group of Twenty, and His Royal Highness directed to convene the same every two years.
In a press statement, His Highness, the Governor of Riyadh, said, "My lord, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, may God support him, honored me by sponsoring the activities of the First International Conference on Giftedness and Creativity" Imagining the Future "on behalf of his honorable position. And that His patronage, may God preserve him, for this conference and holding the same periodically every two years is a confirmation of his generous confidence - may God help him - for everything that would enhance the Kingdom's leadership in launching qualitative initiatives of developmental priority that add value to the future of humanity. The visionary leadership, may God support it, empowered the nation's youth and provided them with the opportunity to participate in the nation's renaissance with its actions and initiatives to achieve its vision that strengthened the role of youth in developing the national economy, as they represent 36.7% of the total population.
His Highness added, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is witnessing, in this auspicious era, an exceptional and comprehensive renaissance to build the Saudi man and invest in his capabilities and potentials that keep pace with the talented and creative human energies of our dear country in various fields. Not after this interest is something new, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz - may God preserve him- was the one who proposed to the homeland the idea of establishing an entity concerned with the care of the talented people during his presidency of the Riyadh Region Council, which was thanks to God and then thanks to the initiative of his honorable position, the nucleus of what has become "Mawhiba". Furthermore, the honoring of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - may God have mercy on him - in this conference is an affirmation of his role in launching this foundation as a method of work, so we ask God for mercy and forgiveness for him and that he be rewarded for what he offered."
His Highness the Prince of Riyadh stated that during the activities of the First International Conference on Giftedness and Creativity "Imagining the Future", the world will witness Saudi models of Mawhiba students who have achieved outstanding global successes on international platforms, indicating that Mawhiba has succeeded since its establishment and for more than 20 years with the support and guidance of the visionary leadership in promoting the culture of giftedness and creativity, expanding its local activities and moving worldwide, where about (400) thousand students were tested to identify the talented and provide quality programs for (161) thousand students to evaluate their abilities and enhance creativity, innovation and leadership.
The Governor of Riyadh affirmed in his statement, "The process of discovering talented people is participatory and integrative that begins at home and is strengthened in schools and community institutions. Hence, the importance of supporting the government and private sectors for the talented, investing in and attracting them as leaders of change and the engine of progress towards the future, and caring for and encouraging them through the programs, initiatives and activities of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, and in light of this prosperous era under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and his trustworthy Crown Prince, may God protect them, who is characterized with complementarity, inclusiveness and outlook that unites all the nation's institutions in one system for the welfare of the Saudi people and the good for humanity."
At the beginning of his speech, His Excellency Dr. Saud Al-Mat'ham, Secretary-General of Mawhiba, welcomed the honor of His Highness the Prince of Riyadh and the opening of the conference on behalf of the Royal Highness, stressing that the conference is being held in light of many challenges that the world is witnessing and under exceptional circumstances with the continuing outbreak of the Corona pandemic.
His Excellency said that today's world is witnessing an acceleration of economic change and technological progress, in a way that will have profound effects on human life in various parts of the world, pointing out that everyone has realized that the prosperity of nations depends on empowering talented and creative minds that lead and shape the future, adding that today's conference enhances the ability of talented and creative people to build the virtual world and employ the same efficiently and effectively, foresee the future of virtual reality and its impact on human development, and expand international cooperation through effective partnerships to develop human capital from talented, creative and innovative young energies to face global developments and challenges, and launch a global platform for virtual communication that brings together specialists, interested, talented, creative and innovative people from different parts of the world.
Dr. Al-Mat'ham asserted that the Mawhiba Foundation was launched in 1999 as a non-profit organization and continued its journey until it becomes today the owner of the most comprehensive educational approach in the world to foster high performance and creativity, explaining that investing in the education of gifted people is not a luxury or an elite work, but rather a developmental necessity to raise high-quality standards in promoting their capabilities, so that they contribute to the development process and build their societies to become future leaders, especially at this difficult time with the continuing Corona crisis around the world.
His Excellency indicated that all countries of the world are moving towards rebuilding skills and that the demand will be great for higher cognitive skills, in the areas of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, and that talented, creative and super-capable leaders will be leaders in the field of entrepreneurship, emerging companies and the job market based on artificial intelligence, and they will not only focus on implementing the task required, but rather they will be interested in developing efficient and effective business models.
In his speech, His Excellency the Secretary General of Mawhiba called on everyone to realize that the talented are a creative generation that does not search for jobs but rather creates the same, and is not a consumer of technology but a producer of the same, and they are the most capable of imagining and influencing the future with their ability to translate imagination into reality and turn ideas into innovative solutions that contribute to economic progress and the well-being of mankind, considering that the future for them is today, not tomorrow.
Al-Mat'ham explained that Mawhiba has a comprehensive vision for the future of talented and creative youth, to inspire them and realize their passion to become future scientists, businessmen and leaders, who make a big difference in a better and brighter future for all humanity.
His Excellency expressed his pride of Mawhiba during the conference's activities, in launching the global Mawhiba membership platform that brings together specialists, practitioners, scientists, innovators, talented and creative people from all over the world, calling on everyone to join the same to be part of Mawhiba's membership and efforts to empower talented and creative people to maximize their potential and meet their aspirations.
The opening ceremony included the screening of a film that dealt with Mawhiba's twenty years of career in discovering and nurturing talented people, as a model for pioneering experiences in the world through Mawhiba.
Afterwards, the main high-level inaugural session began with the title "Imagining the future ... Empowering talented and creative young people to shape new future horizons" with the participation of His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy, and His Excellency Dr. Hamad bin Muhammad Al Al-Sheikh, Minister of Education, with the participation of UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, and addressed how to build a creative generation and empower talented people with future skills and jobs.
His Highness the Minister of Energy said that with the vision of the Kingdom 2030, the stage of imagination has been passed over to the stage of implementation, and now the stage of actual executive work has been launched, adding that it is better for this to train the young generation to be at the forefront of the future and that we can only be humble when comparing ourselves with them and with the knowledge they now possess.
His Highness the Minister of Energy stated that it is vital for the most important role to be empowering the talented, pointing to the launch of many programs in Saudi universities and at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals to empower talented youth to achieve the goals of Vision 2030, and that education will be an approach to open education where thinking is more than memorization and indoctrination, while looking forward to students' participation in research and finding solutions to energy problems, for example, which face many challenges, stressing that manufacturing is also a challenge that requires awareness of technology, and this cannot be done without support and without talents.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Minister of Energy, explained that it is not enough to develop curricula, but rather to train students and talented people to think and be part of the solution, and for women to be part of the training process as women are half of the society, indicating that the main idea revolves around awareness of Saudi capabilities and equality between males females and empowering future generations to build robots and use their intelligence, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and focus on thinking and automation, among other things.
In his statement, His Excellency the Minister of Education Dr. Hamad bin Muhammad Al Al-Sheikh affirmed that it is important to continue education regardless of the Corona crisis or anything else, and that the Kingdom succeeded in doing so, as the doors of schools were closed to students and teachers, and this was replaced by educational channels, remote education and the use of infrastructure through unified learning system and platforms, 97% of students were registered on the Madrasati platform.
The Minister of Education indicated that the best possible use of the Corona pandemic has been made to continue moving forward, and to reach education for those who have problems in Internet access through education through educational channels and satellites, and a virtual platform for early education, stressing that the Saudi education system has become a unique system of its kind, and that remote education will continue for some groups and in some remote areas.
For her part, Executive Director of UNICEF Henrietta Fore explained that the organization said that the Saudi experience in remote education will benefit the countries of the world, pointing out that students should be encouraged to study remotely, particularly in remote rural areas, and that the world needs digital skills, calling for the necessity of establishing a partnership between governmental and private sectors in this area.
On the conference platform, the attendees followed the successful global Saudi models of its talented students, and watched the film honoring King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - may God have mercy on him. During the conference, His Highness the Governor of Riyadh region launched a number of initiatives, including Mawhiba Membership and Mawhiba postal stamp on the occasion of the twenty years on its founding, and he honored Mawhiba's strategic knowledge partners Aramco and SABIC at the conference.
In the conference, 17 speakers will participate, including experts and those interested in talent from home and abroad. And it will deal with several axes, the most prominent of which is nurturing talented people in the Kingdom, a model for pioneering experiences in the world, the talent of the twenty-year journey, the establishment of the virtual world by investing in talented and creative people. Moreover, the conference shall deal with the future of science and technology and caring for talented and creative people under virtual reality, the virtual world in the face of global crises and challenges, the most prominent global practices in developing the youth energies of talented, creative and innovative people, investing in the care of talented, creative and innovative people and its effects on societies, and virtual knowledge exchange between talented, creative, innovators, specialists and those interested in them from all over the world.
