Miscellaneous

Prince Khalid takes over as new Saudi envoy to US

Saudi Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has officially begun his tenure as the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the US with the presentation of his credentials to President Donald J. Trump at a White House ceremony.   

Prince Khalid is the 10th Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the US since 1945, said a statement from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, based in US.

"I am honoured and excited to represent Saudi Arabia in the US. Close friends and long-time allies, now more than ever, our two countries are aligned in shared interests and common purpose," said the new ambassador.

"We are expanding trade and investment, increasing cultural exchanges, and fighting terrorism side by side," he stated.

Most recently, Prince Khalid was a senior civilian advisor in the Ministry of Defence. He also helped execute the Ministry's strategic restructuring as part of the National Transformation Program under Vision 2030.

Previously, he was an officer in the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) where he flew F15-S combat missions in Syria and Yemen.  

As a result of a back condition that prevented him from flying, Prince Khalid served as a tactical intelligence officer at ‎the King Abdulaziz Air Base in Dhahran, said the report.

He received pilot ‎training in the US at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas and Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, Mississippi. He also studied advanced electronic warfare in France.‎

"My first priority is to build on the outcomes of the Riyadh Summit to foster closer cooperation on our collective security and to expand our economic partnership," stated Prince Khalid, who graduated from the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh and was ‎commissioned a second lieutenant in the RSAF.

"I also want to reintroduce Saudi Arabia to the US. Under our new leadership, the kingdom continues to change and modernize. I want to engage Americans in new ways to introduce and describe the important economic and social reforms now underway," he added.-TradeArabia News Service