LONDON: The inaugural meeting of the Saudi Arabia-UK Strategic Aid Dialogue was recently held in London, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. The Adviser at the Royal Court and Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, headed the Saudi delegation, which included representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs and finance, and the Saudi Fund for Development. Saudi Ambassador to the UK Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz also attended the meeting along with SFD CEO Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad. UK Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Andrew Mitchell, and Director General of the Humanitarian and Development at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Nick Dyer were among representatives of the UK. Al-Rabeeah expressed KSrelief’s hopes for humanitarian cooperation with the UK, adding that “Saudi Arabia is a significant donor worldwide.” He said Saudi Arabia provided $65 billion for 2,300 humanitarian projects in 167 countries between 2000 and 2023. Development and humanitarian support to countries in need amounted to $85.5 billion, Al-Rabeeah said. He said that the Kingdom believes in supporting education projects for girls, as well as projects aimed at providing women with professional skills to enable them to support their families and improve their livelihoods. Al-Marshad voiced his appreciation for the outstanding partnership with the UK in the development field, which has yielded essential initiatives such as Ethiopia’s water and sanitation program project, and the clean energy for schools project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Such efforts affirm the commitment of both sides to providing development assistance to countries in need, added the CEO. Al-Marshad said he looks forward to continuing this partnership to support the development process in developing countries and positively impact the lives of beneficiaries. The session discussed the progress made within the framework of the British-Saudi partnership in the field of development and humanitarian assistance concerning cooperation agreements and the launch of joint humanitarian development projects. It also highlighted the promotion of strategic dialogue and boosting cooperation on humanitarian issues and development policies of mutual interest.