Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), held a meeting with Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fadley, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and together explored ways to promote cooperation between ICESCO and the Ministry in areas of common interest.

At the outset, Dr. AlMalik expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented in its Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, for hosting the Ninth Conference of Environment Ministers in the Islamic World, to be held in Jeddah, on Thursday, October 19, 2023.

The Director-General also stressed the Organization’s keenness to promote cooperation with the Ministry, commending the special partnership between the two in organizing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Award for Environmental Management in the Islamic World (KSAAEM), which the Ministry chairs and ICESCO oversees its General Secretariat. The KSAAEM award ceremony will be held during the Conference of Environment Ministers in the Islamic World to hand out prizes to its third edition’s 22 winners from 18 countries, distributed over its four categories.

For his part, Eng. Al-Fadli stated that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is keen to develop cooperation relations with ICESCO and with the countries of the Islamic world to face the challenges and negative impact of climate change on water and food security, expressing the Ministry’s readiness to exchange successful Saudi expertise and experiences regarding water desalination and various environmental initiatives.

Likewise, the Meeting addressed the importance of joint environment action through practical and innovative initiatives that can be measured and developed to ensure their success and meet the needs and priorities of each country.

At the close of the meeting, the two parties agreed to sustain coordination to promote cooperation in several projects and programs.