RIYADH: The King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, or Mawhiba, organized the closing ceremony for the second edition of its Gifted Arab Initiative on Wednesday. The ceremony celebrated the 205 students from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Libya, Tunisia, Jordan, and Palestine who completed the initiative. The students finished twin programs hosted at King Saud University and Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University, where they spent weeks learning in top tier scientific research laboratories. The programs aim to develop and refine the students’ capabilities and skills, and provide them with specialized scientific knowledge, research and learning techniques, and critical thinking and public speaking experience for their future endeavours. Mawhiba Secretary-General Dr. Amal Al-Hazaa said: “Mawhiba and its partners are celebrating today the end of the Gifted Arab Initiative, which included many stages and hard work that began with the development of a scientific scale — the Gifted Arab scale — which is the gateway to the initiative, followed by cooperation between the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization and the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, represented in coordination with the ministries of education in the Arab countries to nominate these students.” Al-Hazaa added that the initiative’s goals were to spread a culture of discovery and innovation, and create the necessary support to nurture talented Arab students to  let them contribute to the growth of their respective countries. In his virtual speech from ALECSO headquarters in Tunisia, Director General Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar said: “I would like to thank King Salman, and the people of Saudi Arabia, for the generous and continuous support of the organization and for sponsoring its works, programs and cultural activities in the service of the Arab nation. “My sons and daughters, the winners of the first round of the Gifted Arab Initiative, more than 200 students from all Arab countries; we aim to nurture your talents because you are the true wealth and successful investment.” At the end of the ceremony, Mawhiba honored the initiative’s partners, King Saud University and Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, in appreciation of their continuous support for talent empowerment and development programs. The ceremony was attended by ambassadors and other diplomats representing Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, and Mauritania.