Prince Sultan bin Salman and Prince Turki bin Abdullah inaugurate the second Saudi Forum for Conferences and Exhibitions Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences, and His Royal Highness Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region and Chairman of the Tourism Development Council in the region, yesterday evening opened the activities of the second Saudi Forum for Conferences and Exhibitions, organized by the Saudi Program for Exhibitions and Conferences, in cooperation with the General Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, in the presence of a number of Their Highnesses the Princes and Excellencies. Upon their arrival, they cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the exhibition accompanying the forum, which is sponsored by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), in the presence of HE Chairman of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) Mr. Abdullah bin Fahd Al Hussein. The exhibition is located on a total area of 1550 square meters, with the participation of a number of entities and companies working in the exhibition and conference sector, in addition to the sponsors. After that, the ceremony prepared for this occasion began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, then the Chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Zamil, delivered a speech in which he noted the state's interest in the conference and exhibition sector, which represents the most promising economic tracks that are expected to have a great impact on developing the economies of the regions, providing job opportunities for citizens, in addition to contributing to stimulating economic growth and promoting occupancy in tourist accommodation facilities and supporting services. Zamil praised the efforts of Prince Sultan bin Salman in sponsoring and supporting the exhibitions and conferences program, which contributed to the development of this sector, noting that the private sector is currently adopting a new strategy to develop the exhibitions and conferences industry. Michael Grech, President and CEO of Destination Marketing International (DMAI), delivered a speech in which he addressed the increasing positive impact of the exhibitions and conferences industry on the global economy, touching on the economic and cultural benefits of tourism and its development as reflected by the increase in the number of tourists globally to more than one billion tourists. After that, HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences, delivered a speech in which he stressed that the Kingdom is going through an important transitional stage in the exhibitions and conferences sector after the Cabinet approved on 17 Rajab 1434 AH the establishment of the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences, which started to develop and organize this sector and promote it to be a major developmental tributary to the national economy, promote investment, provide job opportunities for citizens, and project a positive image of the Kingdom by 1439H 2018 inshallah. The major economic projects currently underway in the Kingdom are expected to contribute to increasing investments in the sector to keep pace with the needs and requirements of local markets. Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz said: The past year (1435 AH) witnessed the issuance of a number of state regulations and decisions that support the care of national heritage and the development of tourism and tourism investment in the Kingdom, including the approval of the King Abdullah Project for the Care of Cultural Heritage, the Tourism System, the Antiquities and Museums System, and the financial and administrative support of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities, among others, and the Authority is currently working to activate these decisions through a comprehensive development program that focuses on domestic tourism in all activities and aims to enhance its capabilities to perform the tasks entrusted to it, focus its efforts, set priorities and speed up the implementation of projects His Highness noted that the development of the exhibitions and conferences sector complements the series of development initiatives presented by the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities in cooperation with its partners from the public and private sectors to develop a number of economic sectors interconnected with the national tourism industry, as the exhibitions and conferences sector represents a promising economic opportunity to develop business tourism, reduce seasonality, stimulate investment, provide job opportunities for citizens, and contribute to the gross domestic product. His Highness said: The path of exhibitions and conferences is a very large economic industry and the state adopted a 5-year development plan for it, which we prepared in solidarity with our first partner, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, indicating that the transfer of the exhibitions and conferences sector in this form to the supervision of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities, which includes in its board of directors all government ministries, including the Ministry of Commerce, was the idea of Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabeeah because of the importance of this great economic activity in the Kingdom, which is the largest market in the Middle East and the most numerous country in the consumer population and the exhibition and conference sector must be the most active in the Middle East region.