French Dialogue of Civilizations Symposium opening on March 15 at the Sorbonne in Paris will see university professors from the Kingdom and France present research on interfaith dialogue and the role of culture in improving relations between religions and cultures. The two-day symposium, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education in conjunction with the Sorbonne University, aims to give impetus to King Abdullah's dialogue initiative which seeks to strengthen ties and understanding between followers of religions, cultures and different nations and promote the values of peace, tolerance and justice. Khaled Al-Anqari, Minister of Higher Education, will open the symposium with prominent French and Saudi university professors in attendance, among the latter being Salwa Bint Khaled Al-Maiman and Muhammed N. Shoukany from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. Abdullah Al-Khatib, the Saudi Cultural Attaché at the embassy in Paris, said that participants at the symposium would focus on setting out the principles of dialogue between cultures and ways of strengthening the “culture of dialogue”. “Other cultures have benefited from the ‘Islamic economy' in reducing the impact of the global economic crisis, as Muslim economists opened dialogue with economists from other cultures which enabled them to exchange opinions and experience,” Al-Khatib said. Dialogue, he added, also refers to “international organizations and their work to build peace, the role of culture in international relations, and cultural identity, and religions and identities as elements in different peoples' diversity and as pillars of the joint global inheritance”. “The Kingdom's Ministry of the Higher Education is organizing periodic forums with universities and professional institutions in Saudi Arabia and France to open channels of dialogue and boost moves to serve global peace and justice,” Al
