clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Bin Salman says Saudi Arabia is changing

March 24, 2018 at 11:47 am

US President Donald Trump (R) meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia on 20 March 2018 in Washington, US [Bandar Algaloud/Saudi Kingdom Council/Anadolu Agency]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has said his country is currently in a “process of change, a phase of seizing opportunities.”

He made the remarks in a speech during the Saudi-US partnership ceremony held on Thursday evening in Washington DC, according to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He pointed out that “the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States of America has extended for many years and has been built on mutual trust and strategic partnership.”

The Kingdom is carrying out a number of economic and social projects in accordance with the vision of 2030 aimed at reducing the country’s dependence on oil, which is the main source of its income.

Saudi Arabia has recently witnessed a series of decisions that abandoned a number of official laws and customs that the country has adopted for decades, notably the decisions to allow women to drive cars that will come into effect next June, their right to attend football matches, as well as their right to practice professions that used to be exclusively male-dominated.

Bin Salman arrived in Washington last Tuesday for a two-week visit to the United States.

Following a meeting with Defence Secretary James Mattis on Thursday, Washington announced its approval for the sale of weapons to the Kingdom worth more than one billion dollars.