<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The <a href="https://thediplomatinspain.com/en/2024/03/18/saudi-arabias-new-ambassador-starts-intense-activity-in-spain/82642/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Princess Haifa al Mogrin</a>, thanked Spain for its ‘courageous and historic decision to recognise the State of Palestine’ during a reception to commemorate the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.</strong></h4> In this regard, Haifa al-Mogrin stressed her government's desire to ‘continue our cooperation (with Spain) to achieve the shared interests and prosperity of both countries and contribute to regional and international peace and security’. The ambassador pointed out that the bilateral relationship ‘has grown in all aspects and is clearly reflected in strong political ties and growing economic relations’ since the launch of Vision 2030. In addition to numerous political agreements, the growing number of Spanish companies operating in the Desert Kingdom and Saudi investments in Spain, which have doubled in recent years, corroborate the moment of expansion of relations between the two countries. The number of tourists has also increased in both directions, said the ambassador, who highlighted the latest Saudi initiatives to attract tourists, taking advantage of its recent opening. Among others, she referred to <a href="https://www.neom.com/en-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neom, the futuristic city that aims to be a model of sustainability,</a> and expressed satisfaction that eight Saudi monuments are now inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The ambassador expressed her satisfaction that Vision 2030 has driven progress in the fields of energy - ‘the contribution of the non-oil sectors reached 50% of our GDP by 2023’ -, labour - ‘the participation of women in the labour market has doubled’ - and environment - ‘the kingdom has made significant progress in its sustainable development initiatives, such as the planting of 50 million trees in different regions of the country˝, which is only the beginning of the Saudi Green Initiative that aims to plant 10 billion trees’. [caption id="attachment_94976" align="alignnone" width="750"]<img class="wp-image-94976 size-full" src="https://thediplomatinspain.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Embajadoras-ok.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="422" /> The Arab women’s diplomatic corps was well represented by the ambassadors.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_94978" align="alignnone" width="750"]<img class="wp-image-94978 size-full" src="https://thediplomatinspain.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Embajadores-ok.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="422" /> The male gender was also faithfully represented by the Arab ambassadors.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_94980" align="alignnone" width="750"]<img class="wp-image-94980 size-full" src="https://thediplomatinspain.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Andorra-Serbia-y-Grecia-ok.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="422" /> The ambassadors of Andorra and Serbia (in the centre), together with their Greek counterpart.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_94982" align="alignnone" width="750"]<img class="wp-image-94982 size-full" src="https://thediplomatinspain.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Rusia-y-Ecuador-ok.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="422" /> The ambassador of Ecuador, Wilma Andrade, together with the Russian ambassador, Yuri Klimenko.[/caption]
