Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Commission (SSC), Eng. Abdullah Amer Al-Sawaha, met with the British Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, as part of his visit to the United Kingdom to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the field of space economy. During the meeting, which was attended by the SSC President-designate, Dr. Mohammed bin Saud Al-Tamimi, the two sides stressed the importance of stimulating the participation of the two countries' private sector in the area of space economy and promoting investment in developing human capabilities. They also discussed cooperation in the field of the development of human capabilities in the space sector. This visit comes within the framework of the SSC's endeavor to build effective international partnerships in this field so as to enhance the Commission's role and support its steps towards achieving its strategic goals for the Saudi space sector, which represents a national priority, and to contribute to the Kingdom's transformation towards an innovation-based and space economy, in addition to stimulating investment, opening new markets that would be a source of economic diversification and the creation of new jobs and achieving leadership positions for the Kingdom to be driven by qualitative achievements in the fields of space economy. Moreover, the Kingdom seeks for making the space sector as a major contributor to its prosperity and leadership as well as achieving the Kingdom's Vision 2030 through the development and organization of the sector and the provision of enablers to achieve pioneering achievements to be reflected in the local economy, creating new sectors and markets. It is worth mentioning that in early July 2021, the Kingdom announced in a qualitative step to achieve these goals, the launch of the first Saudi program on scholarship, ending with employment in the field of space, which provides quality educational opportunities for Saudi male and female students by studying specialties related to space science in the most prominent 30 universities around the world as part of the Kingdom's comprehensive development plans for the space sector.
