Abu Miteb “Citizen is first.”

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who ascended the throne in August 2005, has played a remarkable role in taking the Kingdom into the elite club of world nations. King Abdullah has been instrumental in enabling the Kingdom to record marvelous and magnificent achievements in all walks of life.
Citizen is first. In all his words and directives to officials, Abu Miteb emphasized the point “Citizen is first.” He underscored the significance of investing in citizens through implementing projects aimed at developing human resources, and taking decisions aimed at fulfilling their requirements and achieving their welfare in all the vital sectors, including health, education, and housing.
Women’s empowerment one of the major highlights of the King’s political reforms. As part of a bold initiative to ensure women’s participation in the decision-making process, 30 women have been nominated to the Shoura Council, in addition to granting women the right to vote and run as candidates in local elections.
King Abdullah’s another major contribution is to make available of the best ever services and facilities for the Haj and Umrah pilgrims. The King has ordered the largest ever expansion in the history of the two holy mosques. With the completion of the ongoing expansion project costing SR100 billion, the Grand Mosque in Makkah will double its space with a capacity to accommodate two million worshippers.
Education is key to progress Under King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia is witnessing unprecedented development in the education sector. The King has given top priority to the Kingdom’s educational and technological advancement. He issued directives and took landmark decisions to concentrate on developing people of the country and creating a promising generation who possess skills and capabilities to lead the country to a bright future. These decisions included expansion of educational projects and setting up of universities in almost all major cities. Nine years ago, there were only nine universities in the Kingdom. Now, the numbers have shot up to 28 government universities and five private ones. Earlier this month, the King ordered setting up of three new universities in North Jeddah, Bisha and Hafar Al-Batin. Apart from these, hundreds of new colleges and institutes have also been established. All these were instrumental in developing the potential and talents of the younger generation so as to enable them to play a creative role in the nation building process.
Health is wealth. King Abdullah shouldered a big task of making the Kingdom’s health sector one of the premier sectors providing top quality services and facilities to ensure healthy living of citizens. A large number of Saudi young men and women have been sent abroad for higher studies in various medical specialties by taking advantage of the King’s foreign scholarship program. The King also ordered setting up of a number of medical cities, including King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh, King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah, King Faisal Medical City in Abha, Prince Muhammad Medical City in Sakaka and King Khaled Medical City in Dammam. A large number of hospital and medical center projects have either been implemented or under various phases of implementation in various regions of the Kingdom.
Economic boom. Saudi Arabia is witnessing unprecedented economic boom and robust growth under King Abdullah. Within a short span of nine years, the King has led the nation to become one of the major global economic powers with a membership in G20 and other blocs. According to the report of the International Monetary Fund in 2013, Kingdom ranked 10 among G20 countries in terms of per capita GDP and is expected to occupy the rank of nine within the coming five years.
Public transport and Land bridge. Under the King, Saudi Arabia is witnessing remarkable achievements in the transport and communications sector. The most important among them is the public transport system, especially the railway projects. The government has awarded contracts worth $22.5 billion to three consortia to carry out designing and construction works of Riyadh metro network. The consortia consist of giant companies, which are leading manufacturers and builders of rail networks and trains in the world. The gigantic project is expected to be completed within five years.

Source: https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140426203129