The position Kingdom has achieved in the world is not entirely because of its huge oil reserves, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah, said here on Saturday. “Oil and other petroleum products were never a reason for respecting human beings and leadership. There are many countries that have oil and natural resources in abundance but they did not reach the Kingdom's position,” he said. The presence of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, at the recent G20 summit in London was because of his own stature and the supreme position the Kingdom holds in the comity of nations, he said. Speaking to a group of students, officials and intellectuals at Taif University, Prince Khaled asked them to be proud of themselves, be confident and fight the “culture of depression.” “You represent the most successful Arabian unity,” the Emir told the audience. The Emir reviewed a number of projects in Taif and their progress, maintaining that the projects for the city's prosperity are going as scheduled. “I found that many of the projects being executed in the city are progressing well. Some are facing obstacles,” he said. “A good thing is we agreed that this year is the one of ending studies and starting execution. There are more projects to be executed here including one for the development of unplanned districts and the project of King Faisal Medical City, in addition to an industrial city,” he said. The Emir said the Kingdom has been giving a lot of attention to education and has been allocating huge budgets for universities. He also talked about industrial cities and how they will improve the country's internal economy. On the global economic crisis, he said the Kingdom was one of the least affected by it. “Many countries are finding it tough to cope with the crisis while the Kingdom is presenting a development projects one after the other.” Tourism meeting Earlier, chairing the fifth meeting of Taif's Tourism Development Council, Prince Khaled said Taif governorate is a premier tourism center in the Kingdom. He appraised the great attention given by King Abdullah to the tourism development in Taif governorate, and urged businessmen to invest in the tourism sector. Prince Khaled said the governorate of Taif in cooperation with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities is going ahead on implementing the project of Okaz historical market as well as Hada and Al
