| Lyna Mohamad |
RELATIONS between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Brunei Darussalam are based on mutual respect and brotherly ties at all levels, both the government and the people, said Charge d’Affaires at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Brunei Darussalam Hussain Mohammed M Al-Dajani.
He made this statement during the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s 88th National Day Reception at the Indera Samudra Grand Hall of The Empire Hotel & Country Club in Jerudong last night.
Present as representative of the Government of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and guest of honour was Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, along with spouse Datin Paduka Hajah Jahrah binti Haji Mohamad.
The Charge d’ Affaires said the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud to Brunei Darussalam last year was a historic turning point in the development of relations between the two brotherly countries and these brotherly relations shall continue to be stronger with the special grace of Allah the Almighty with the prudence of the leaders of both countries.
“While we commemorate the historical visit, we are also looking forward to the visit of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the near future,” said the Charge d’ Affaires.
“His Majesty King Salman, the Government and the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are proud to render their utmost services to the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors and the Kingdom has embarked on numerous service projects to ensure the comfort of the pilgrims, and to guarantee they perform the rituals with ease and convenience.
“One of the important key pillars in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 is to work assiduously to advance the facilities and develop the holy places for the convenience of Haj and Umrah pilgrims. The most recent of these developments is the ‘The Makkah Road’ initiative that was launched this year,” said the Charge d’ Affaires.
He said the initiative aimed to ease entry processes whereby the pilgrims would have completed them right from their respective countries of origin and prior to their arrival in Saudi Arabia.
“The first phase of this initiative has been implemented in Malaysia and Indonesia. Al-Haramain High-Speed Railway is also an important initiative which was announced to start operation on October 4, this year. It will link the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah through Jeddah with five stations via King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, Jeddah, connecting to King Abdulaziz International Airport (KATA) covering 449.2 kilometres.”
This, he added will be the largest transportation system in the Middle East and will facilitate, in no small measure, the movement of pilgrims and visitors in the Kingdom and beyond.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the last 10 years has served more than 150 million pilgrims from 160 nationalities and the government is projecting to reach 300 million pilgrims by 2030. In this year’s Haj, the kingdom hosted 2,371,675 pilgrims.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and all the officials in the Brunei Government for all the facilitations received by the embassy and its staff in Brunei Darussalam.”
Last night’s ceremony began with the recitation of verses of Al-Quran by Abdul Aziz bin Haji Noor Nasran, a participant of the 39th King Abdulaziz International Competition for al-Quran Memorisation, Recitation and Interpretation in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Doa Selamat was recited by Sheikh Syed Zaghloul, a teacher at the Hassanal Bolkiah Arabic Boys Secondary School, and followed with welcoming speech by the Charge d’ Affaires.
This was followed with cake cutting ceremony by the guest of honour and the Charge d’ Affaires along with Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to Brunei Darussalam Sheikh Ahmed bin Hashel bin Rashid bin Hashel Al-Maskari and Ambassador-designate of the State of Kuwait Salah Mubarak Musleh R Al Mutairi. Souvenirs were presented to the guest of honour.
Spouse of Hussain Mohammed M Al-Dajani, Elham AA Shaladi presented a souvenir to Datin Paduka Hajah Jahrah.
The guest of honour toured the exhibition at the event.