25 April 2009

JEDDAH: A university named Hudaibiya will be established as part of the Makkah Gate project, which aims to develop Makkah into a modern city with advanced living facilities. The city will also see, as part of the project, the establishment of a cultural dialogue center, a heritage village and a conference center.

Spread over an area of 80 million square meters from Shumaisi checkpoint to the gate of Makkah along the expressway, the project also includes the construction of buildings for the Makkah governorate and other government offices, residential apartments and recreational centers.

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal inspected a model of the massive real estate project during a ceremony at Jeddah Hilton on Tuesday. The inspection was also attended by Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar, and Ayedh Al-Qahtani, chairman of the Sumou Real Estate Company, the property developer undertaking the project.

Hudaibiya will be the second university in Makkah after Umm Al-Qura University, which is one of the oldest in the Kingdom. The new university will be located at the site where the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) signed the Hudaibiya Peace Treaty with the Quraish in 628 AD (8th Hijrah).

Hudaibiya University will house an international center for research. It will also host a center for cultural dialogue, named after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, to promote dialogue between different faiths and cultures; deepen the values of justice, tolerance and moderation; and defend human rights.

“We expect to get approval for the project within four months,” said Al-Qahtani, adding that the project would be completed within 10 years in different phases. The land that is being used for the project belongs to both the public and private sectors.

“A number of foreign investors have shown their interest in participating in the project, which requires billions of riyals in investment,” he said.

Al-Qahtani’s company designed the project using the experience of countries such as Malaysia, the US and Brazil in implementing similar projects.

The residential districts will be separated from service and administrative buildings in order to provide a peaceful atmosphere for residents, Al-Qahtani said. It will also have a mosque, kindergartens, primary schools, gardens and cultural clubs.

Saudi Arabia has been giving utmost importance to education and training to meet its growing development requirements. There are educational quarters in the new giant economic cities that are coming up in Rabigh, Madinah, Hail and Jazan.

Within the last four years, 12 new universities and several colleges have been opened in different parts of the country, increasing the number of state-run universities to 20.

The government recently approved two new private universities: Dar Al-Hekma in Jeddah and Dar Al-Uloom in Riyadh.

In a recent statement, Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari said Saudi Arabia requires 10 more universities for applied science and technology. He said private universities could play a bigger role in absorbing students who otherwise have to go abroad for higher studies by offering attractive courses and quality education. As many as 70,000 Saudi students have been sent abroad for higher studies in reputable foreign universities, especially in the US, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Malaysia and India.