Nasr said, KAUST has entered into formal partnerships with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Institut Francais du Petrole in France, the National University of Singapore, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) and, most recently, the American University in Cairo. The new university will be constructed at Thuwal on the Red Sea. Not far from Thuwal is Rabigh, site of an existing Saudi Aramco refinery, which is being transformed under a new joint venture with Sumitomo Chemical of Japan into a huge integrated petrochemical and refining facility. Since KAUST is King Abdullah's favorite project, Al-Nasr was asked if he could share his impressions of the king's involvement in the project. Al-Nasr noted that King Abdullah has had the dream of this university for over 25 years. “He is extremely happy and proud that his dream is finally taking shape,” Al-Nasr said. “His vision is to see KAUST drive the transformation of the Saudi economy into a knowledge economy. It may be easy for us to say we want to transform the economy into a knowledge economy. However, it is a long journey that a nation has to undertake. The king believes that KAUST is the starting point of that transformation.” --MORE
