RIYADH, 22 March 2007 — A prominent Saudi businessman received an award from Holland for his outstanding efforts in developing education and training in the Middle East .
Nicolaas Beets, ambassador of the Netherlands presented the prestigious award to Ahmad Al-Taweel, managing director of Alfaisal International Academy (ALFAC), in the presence of a large gathering at the embassy premises on Sunday. Diederick Stoel, chief executive officer of Amsterdam-based Profit Wise, sponsor of the award, was also present.
“The award is given to Al-Taweel for his outstanding services in developing education and training in the private sector in the Middle East, particularly in the Kingdom,” Beets said.
Last year, the award was given to Davidson Abrigham of knowledge.com in Malaysia.
Thanking the Dutch government for bestowing a singular honor on him, Al-Taweel said: “I am really honored by this award as it also recognizes the contributions made by my organization in bringing foreign experts to the doorstep to develop the skills of Saudi human resources.” He added that as a member of the Arabian Education and Training Group, since its inception in 2001, ALFAC has been meeting the needs of the job market in all fields of specialization. He stressed that his organization is committed to improving the performance of employees in the public and private sectors by providing them with the state-of-the-art skills. He pointed out that ALFAC is currently cooperating with numerous international organizations from countries such as Holland to help transfer technology skills to Saudi manpower.
The current national budget has allocated SR96.7 billion for education and manpower development, an increase of 11 percent over the previous year. Capital spending in this sector is seen to rise by 17 percent.
Stoel said the award is a new concept introduced by his company to encourage foreign entrepreneurs who contribute toward education and training of local manpower.” Al-Taweel has contributed a great deal toward this cause and he richly deserves this award,” he added.
