His Excellency the Minister of Education, Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sheikh, participated remotely in the 18th Ministerial Round Table of the Science and Technology Forum 2021 (STS Forum), held in the Japanese city of Kyoto, in the presence of a number of ministers, scientists and researchers from 57 countries and the European Union.
The Minister of Education said," The Kingdom will remain committed to its role in enhancing the quality of education, research and innovation, as well as the optimal use and application of science and technology to achieve sustainable development and protect the planet”. He stressed, “ This commitment is reflected in many of the initiatives that have been recently announced by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. These include the “Green Saudi Arabia”, “Green Middle East” initiatives, and the “The Line” project, a 170-kilometre metropolitan city that relies on renewable energy without streets or cars or carbon emissions.
His Excellency added, "I believe that the most important lesson we have learned from the Covid-19 crisis is that global problems require global solutions, so it is important to take advantage of the level of potential offered by scientific and technological progress, and work to achieve them."
The Minister of Education indicated that the impact of science and technology on societies would become more profound, and that education, scientific research and innovation would contribute to achieving the optimal balance between the benefits and challenges posed by the application of scientific and technological progress.
The ministerial round table discussed the lessons learned from the scientific and technological cooperation for tackling Covid-19, the role of science, technology, and "green innovation" initiatives in supporting solutions to global issues and achieving economic growth, exchanging views on the initiatives of each country, in addition to the future vision of international research cooperation in light of digital acceleration.
The forum discussed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on social changes, the role of science and technology in developing medicines, creating and distributing medical vaccines, and ensuring equitable access to all countries, as well as climate changes and global warming and their effects on the deterioration of biodiversity, in addition to the risks of epidemics on human health.
The forum was attended virtually by the Deputy of the Ministry of Education for International Cooperation, Dr. Saleh Al-Qasumi, the Deputy of the Ministry of Education for Research and Innovation, Dr. Nasser Al-Aqili, and the Assistant Deputy of the Ministry of Education, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Omari.