Saudi Arabia's King Salman Calls Upon Universities To Contribute To Development Of Islamic Civilisation

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Monday called upon universities and research centres in Islamic countries to produce works that could contribute to the development of Islamic civilisation. The King (picture, left) said the works should also benefit other countries in the world. He said this must be done to face the challenges in the fields of technical and intellectual, which were no different from the challenges in economical and political aspects. "Universities are the centre for nation-building which have a mission to realise holistic development in various dimensions," King Salman said in his speech in Arabic after being conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by Universiti of Malaya (UM) here Monday night. The honorary degree was presented to the King by UM Chancellor Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak (right). The Saudi Arabia monarch said that universities should also play their roles in strengthening national solidarity and empowering the culture of dialogue, tolerance and harmony among the multi-racial people. "This is important to realise peace and security at the international level so that the entire world's population could enjoy comfort and wellbeing," he said. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques also praised UM for playing its roles as one of the centres for the advancement of knowledge in world's development. "This university has also contributed to the development and progress of Malaysia and other countries," said the King who is on a four-day state visit to Malaysia from Sunday at the invitation of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Muhammad V. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA