Speech of His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bin Khalid Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal President, and Chief Executive Officer AlFaisaliah Group

In the Launch of SCSA 2009

Dear Guests,

Your Excellencies

Brothers and sisters

On behalf of Modern Electronics Company and Sony Corp. Japan, I would like to extend to all presents here today sincere thanks and appreciation for their presence tonight.
I have the honor to welcome, Major General Prince Bandar Bin Abdullah Bin Turki Al Saud, Director of the Department of Education & Culture of the Armed Forces, and Mr. Taro Kimura, the General Manager of Sales & Marketing, Modern Electronics Company and the official representative of Sony Corp. in the Kingdom, for their participation today as we announce the launch of " Sony Creative Science Award 2009" for the 5th consecutive year.
As you are all aware that, the first verse of the verses of the Quran started with the word "Read", therefore, it is not pure coincidence that the first divine guidance from Allah Almighty for his slaves is his order to them to acquire knowledge and science, for his knowledge that, knowledge is the basis for the development and reconstruction of the universe. Therefore, it is not surprising that Muslim scholars were enrolled in science at the height of the prosperity of the Islamic State for more than a thousand year, they were getting to receive and disseminate science and knowledge in all fields, whether medicine, science, mathematics, or engineering, in addition to the literature and the arts.

And our belief in a Faisaliah Group that, education is the process of opening borders and prospects, as keeping knowledge locked within the walls of the classrooms, makes education a mere transfer of information only, and our primary objective since the inception of the idea of Sony Creative Science Award, is lighting of the torch of scientific curiosity and scientific thought and building a sense of creativity in our students, and care for talented and motivate them to be more innovative, and directing the effort for the development of their talents and creativity by encouraging constructive competition, including the employment of their ability to design and build an independent scientific innovations, as we believe that the promotion of a scientific thinking among them in the early stages of age, is a very important matter  to the future of our society.

Sony Creative Science Award aimed at the discovery of creators and innovators students whose ages do not exceed 15 years, where encouraging prizes are awarded to the best scientific innovations, according to the results of objective and accurate assessment. The organization of this competition comes on four phases in accordance with standards and specific conditions; starting with the training of teachers by experts from abroad, followed by the training of teachers to the students nominated for the prize, then the assessment of entries, and finally, the closing ceremony, which includes the distribution of awards to the winning entries.

In view of the fact that, the initiative of Sony Creative Science Award brings together the scientific knowledge and the joy of the creativity at the same time, the number of entries in this competition from various public and private schools in Riyadh continues to increase every year, and it is expected that the entries of this year will record a record-breaking exceeding 1700 entries, which is more than double the previous year's entries, and this is a clear indication of the interaction of our students with such activities, and reflects their desire to highlight their abilities and creativities.

We are all aware that, there are a lot of fertile scientific minds, awaiting care to grow and evolve, and be able to prove themselves and contribute to the process of development and progress in our country. Therefore, it is important to spread the concept of creativity and invention among our children and rehabilitate them to keep abreast of the continuing scientific developments to be the leaders of the bright future.

Finally, I thank you all for your presence tonight, and thank you to Sony Corporation, and the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia, and the Department of Culture and Education of the Armed Forces, for their assistance and support for the success of this initiative.