As many as 167,729 female and male Saudis graduated from US educational institutions over the last 17 years, Minister of Education Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al Al-Sheikh has said. The minister underscored the importance of educational cooperation and partnership with the United States in the fields of general, graduate, post-graduate, scientific research and innovation in achieving the targets of Saudi Arabia"s Vision 2030 and the objectives of sustainable development. Currently there are 20,639 Saudi students and trainees in US universities and educational foundations, he stated. Al Al-Sheikh added that Saudi Arabia grants 318 scholarships to US students to study in the Kingdom. More than 167 female and male Americans study in the Kingdom at present. The minister concluded his statement by citing 289 agreements have been signed between the two parties. Out of them, 125 are for scientific and research cooperation and six for executive training programs while 38 are MoUs and 120 service contracts. He noted the importance of scholarship programs aiming to qualify Saudi graduates to compete in the local and international labor market within the strategy of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Program launched by the Crown Prince. The minister also pointed out that Saudi Arabia has reached several MoUs for cooperation between Saudi universities and their US counterparts in support of scientific research and innovation. Saudi students in the US concentrate on engineering, health, administration, information technology, English language and law programs. The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 underscored the importance of educational investment and accordingly the ministry is calling for US universities to open branches in the country. It is encouraging US investors to launch general and graduate-level education programs in Saudi Arabia, Al Al-Sheikh said. — SG