President of King Abdulaziz City for Sciences and Technology Dr. Mohammad bin Ibrahim Alswayel and the Minister of Common European Commission for External Relations Penyata Finiro Waldner inaugurated here today the introductory meeting of the 7th European Framework Program for Research and Technological Development. The inauguration was attended by ambassadors of the European countries as well as officials, academics and researchers from universities and various research centers in the kingdom. In a speech on the occasion, the European Commission minister praised commitment by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to invest 300 million dollars in the field of environmental scientific research and hailed his keenness to achieve scientific progress and prosperity for nations and peoples. The meeting focused on Saudi-European cooperation in the field of scientific research and the European Union-financed research program whose five-year budget, which began in 2007, reaches 2.7 billion euros.
