THE Governor General, Sir David Vunagi, has acknowledged the support provided towards the 17th Pacific Games in Honiara in November by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its bilateral cooperations with Solomon Islands since 2014.
The acknowledgement was made when the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Solomon Islands, Sultan Bin Fahad Bin Khuzaim, presented his Letter of Credence to the Governor General at the Government House last Thursday.
Further to acknowledging Saudi Arabia’s support to the 2023 Pacific Games as ‘immense’, Sir David said the warm and cordial Solomon Islands – Saudi Arabia bilateral relations have gained momentum since their establishment in 2014.
“Over recent years, bilateral relations have gained momentum and continues to gather pace with fruits of the cooperation being harvested,” he added.
Sir David also said Solomon Islands continues to work with Saudi Arabia multilaterally on the shared goal of combating climate change.
He further reiterated Solomon Islands support to Saudi Arabia in its bid to host the World Expo 2030 which he described as ‘an equally, if not more, unifying event.’
The Governor General also acknowledged the generous hospitality the Government Saudi Arabia accorded the recent high-level visit by the Solomon Islands delegation led by Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, to the biggest nation in the Arabian Peninsula.
“It was a successful visit with fruitful outcomes as we seek to deepened cooperation to cover energy, climate change, investment and tourism,” he added.
Sir David also expressed confidence that during Ambassador Sultan Bin Fahad Bin Khuzaim’s tenure as non-resident ambassador to Solomon Islands, both countries will continue to meaningfully cooperate and pursue matters of shared interest to promote progress and prosperity for people of both countries.
In presenting his Letter of Credence, Ambassador Sultan Fahad Bin Khuzaim, acknowledged that although diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Solomon Islands have been recent, they have developed quite rapidly.
“It indicates the extent of the desire of the governments of our two friendly countries to strengthen relations and develop cooperation in areas of common interest,” he emphatically added.
He said under the directives of the leadership of Saudi Arabia, his team has been commissioned to be active, forward looking and proactive in order to develop the kingdom’s bilateral relations with Solomon Islands and consolidate our joint cooperation and mutual coordination in international forums and organisations on issues of interest to both countries.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Middle East. The kingdom has increasingly diversified its economy and today produces and exports a variety of industrial goods all over the globe.
– MFAET
