JEDDAH: The winners’ ceremony for the 13th Makkah Excellence Award took place on Wednesday, with recipients honored by Gov. Prince Khalid Al-Faisal. The awards were announced earlier in February during the sixth session of the Makkah Cultural Forum, which was held under the theme of “How to be a role model in the digital world.” General supervisor of the Makkah Excellence Award, Dr. Mushabab Al-Qahtani, told the audience: “The measure of success is demonstrated only by the language of numbers. In its sixth session, the Makkah Cultural Forum achieved nearly 771 digital initiatives, and the Makkah Excellence Award, since its inauguration, received more than 4,500 initiatives. The number of winners in the nine categories reached more than 120 winners throughout the years.” “The best witness to this success is achieving the award goals for which it was launched, and this makes us keener to develop these goals in line with the ambitious Vision 2030.” Prince Khalid, who is also known for his poetry and songwriting, gave the winners some meaningful words to hail their accomplishments. “It’s the prize, it is the Saudi citizen, exemplary in everything,” he told them. He praised the Saudi leadership and complimented the Saudi citizens who had attended the ceremony, joining the ministers and princes in the audience, to receive awards for their achievements and hard work that reflected the country’s best image to the world. “He works and masters, he achieves and innovates,” the governor said. The awards covered nine categories. The Ministry of Sports won the award for administrative excellence, with the prize handed to Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal. The scientific and technical excellence award went to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah won the environmental excellence award and this was presented to Abdulaziz Alduailej, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation. The Special Forces for Hajj and Umrah Security won the award for Hajj and Umrah services. The prize was presented to Maj. Gen. Mohammed Al-Bassami, commander of the Hajj Security Forces. Two companies were honored for their economic excellence. The first was Um Al Qura Development Company, with the prize presented to Abdullah Saleh Kamel, chairman of the company’s board of directors. The second was Petro Rabigh Company, and the award was presented to Othman A. Al-Ghamdi, Petro Rabigh’s president and CEO. The humanitarian excellence award went to the Saudi Red Crescent Authority, with the award given to the authority’s president Jalal Alowaisi. The other winner of this award was Fayez Al-Malki, a Saudi actor known for his humanitarian work. Al-Malki was the only individual winner across all categories. The cultural excellence award went to the Red Sea International Film Festival, and was presented to Film Commission CEO Abdullah Al-Eyaf. The urban excellence award was given to the Jeddah dome project, and the prize was presented to Nawaf Abdulkareem, director general of Jeddah season. The Ehsan charity platform was recognized for its social excellence. Wednesday’s ceremony also honored and announced the winners of the Makkah Days Challenge for Programming and Artificial Intelligence. Winners included the University of Jeddah for their “Air Supply Ambulance” initiative in the field of Hajj and Umrah, Taif University for an initiative called “Mustahil” in the field of smart cities, and Um Al Qura University for its “Athar” initiative in the field of tourism and entertainment. The governor inaugurated the Makkah Cultural Forum in 2017 with the aim of highlighting and unifying the cultural and humanitarian work of the government and private sector in the region. The Makkah Excellence Award aims to encourage distinguished work and the outstanding efforts of Saudi individuals and organizations by rooting Islamic principles in professional ethics. The forum also aims to build and elevate a humanitarian spirit among Saudis and encourage them to bring their creativity to the nine categories.