The Fourth Middle East Safety Summit was kicked off in Riyadh on Tuesday under the patronage of the Minister of Transport and Chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation Board of Directors, Dr. Nabil Al-Amoudi. The summit is being organized by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), in collaboration with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). During the opening of the event, Amoudi expressed his gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz for the approval of the Kingdoms hosting of the permanent headquarters of Regional Safety Oversight Organization for the Middle East and North Africa (RSOO – MENA). He also thanked it for the allocation of a budget of $1.5 million for this purpose. He voiced Saudi Arabia’s stance on the need to apply air safety standards and procedures in the civil aviation industry at the global level. Regional Director of the Civil Aviation Organization in the Middle East Mohammed Rahma underlined the importance of the civil aviation industry, which plays a key role in the global economy. He revealed that in 2017 the Middle East witnessed 36.6 million commercial files.