On September 23, 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia celebrates its 91st National Day. In Việt Nam, though unable to hold this celebration due to the measures in place to limit and control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, on this occasion His Excellency Mr. Saud F. M. Al Suwelim, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expressed his pride in this day as it is the anniversary of the unification of the Kingdom at the hands of His Majesty King Abdul Aziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has achieved remarkable achievements under the leadership of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as the Kingdom has witnessed social and economic reforms under the Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to achieve prosperity for the Kingdom and its people.

Vibrant night life in Riyadh City. Photo courtesy of the embassy

In light of the development and growth of Saudi Arabia-Việt Nam relations and the solidarity of the Kingdom’s Government and people with the Government and people of friendly Việt Nam to confront this pandemic, the Kingdom has provided medical aid worth US$500,000 to Việt Nam through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief. The Kingdom has also provided humanitarian aid worth $150,000 to help the Vietnamese central provinces affected by recent storms and floods. His Excellency Ambassador affirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always attached importance to assistance and support the Government and people of Việt Nam.

The Kingdom has a leading role in the world due to its keenness on concerted international efforts and cooperation to confront the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It has allocated $500 million to support international efforts to combat this pandemic, and signed an agreement with the World Health Organization to contribute $90 million to the COVAX Facility to support the implementation of the strategic plan for COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and responding to it as part of the amount allocated to support international efforts. The Kingdom’s contributions in this regard help make tools to combat this pandemic available to all countries, especially developing countries.

The Kingdom has participated in various initiatives that would preserve the prosperity and of peoples, such as its initiatives to combat global warming and protect the planet, through launching of the “Green Saudi Arabia” and the “Green Middle East” initiatives in March 2021, which confirms the Kingdom’s commitment to global efforts to combat climate change and preserve the environment.

H.E Ambassador stressed that the relations between the Kingdom and Việt Nam are characterised by relations of cooperation in all fields and are constantly and developing in many fields. There are many great opportunities and potentials that the two sides are seeking and working on to strengthen relations in the near future.

Saudi Arabia’s 91st National Day is also celebrated by Saudi diplomatic missions in all over the world. VNS