Saudi Arabia, United States sign science technology pact
Saudi Arabia-USA, Science, 12/9/2008

In an effort to expand scientific capacity in the Middle East, the United States signed an agreement to support research and development in Saudi Arabia.

Priority areas include science and technology entrepreneurship, materials science, water purification, agriculture and biotechnology.

Assistant Secretary of State Claudia McMurray and Prince Torki bin Saud, vice president of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, signed a memorandum of understanding in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 2.

"This agreement will formalize a long relationship of several decades between the United States and Saudi Arabia that involves cooperation between numerous technical agencies, academic institutions and private business," McMurray said at the signing.

Established in Riyadh in 1977, the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology is an organization for Saudi science and technology advancement, responsible for policy and management functions and resource allocation for research and development.

The most prominent example of US-Saudi scientific collaboration is the application of the geological and geophysical sciences that brought about the discovery and commercialization of oil, according to McMurray.

Cooperation between organizations from the United States and Saudi Arabia has included the US Geological Survey and the Saudi Geological Survey, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Saudi Arabian Presidency for Meteorology and Environment, and the US Department of Agriculture and the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Agriculture.

McMurray answers questions from the press after signing the science and technology cooperation agreement.

Over the last 30 years, Saudi Arabia has sent thousands of students to the United States to acquire advanced scientific degrees. Individual scientists have enjoyed many years of close cooperation through joint research and exchange of knowledge at conferences and symposia, McMurray added.

One goal of the agreement is to increase the number of Saudi citizens studying science, technology, engineering and math at universities in the United States.

In the last decade, the Saudi Arabian government has spent millions on building the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the country's first public, co-educational university.

McMurray cited the "phenomenally" rapid development of KAUST as evidence of the Saudi government's commitment to apply science and technology for regional economic growth.

The science and technology agreement should make it easier for KAUST to create partnerships with universities and research institutions in the United States, McMurray said.

KAUST has already initiated research partnerships with academic institutions and private companies around the world, including the American University in Cairo, National University of Singapore, Technische Universität München, and IBM.

Scheduled to open in September 2009, KAUST will contain 13 research centers on its 36 million square meter (8,900 acre) campus in Jeddah and will offer graduate degrees in 11 fields, including bioscience, applied mathematics and computational science, chemical science and several fields of engineering.

Plans include an Innovation Center that will serve university-sponsored activities, including support for startup companies inspired by faculty research.

"There is strong interest by many United States and Saudi Arabian technical agencies to continue to develop new cooperative science and technology programs in the kingdom," McMurray said.

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