Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia, Sha'ban 6, 1439, Apr 22, 2018, SPA -- President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom of the Republic of The Maldives has hailed the progress and prosperity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in all fields, praising the Kingdom's efforts in serving Islam and Muslims in various countries of the world, affirming the depth of the strong relations between the two brotherly countries. This came during his meeting with Director of Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah-based Islamic University Dr. Hatem bin Hassan Al-Marzouqi and his accompanying delegation, currently on a two-day official visit to the Republic of The Maldives. For his part, the Director of the Islamic University signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chancellor of Islamic University of Maldives Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed at the University's headquarters today, in the framework of consolidating academic and knowledge relations and promoting joint programs to improve the scientific and administrative level of professors and researchers. The three-year MoU included the exchange of experiences, educational knowledge, programs, books, curricula and publications between the two universities as well as the supervision of scientific programs and projects of scientific research centers, and promoting the distribution of researches and articles published by the two universities in scientific journals and periodicals. --SPA 19:34 LOCAL TIME 16:34 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w674544