Saudi Gazette report

AL-ULA — The three-day Hegra Conference of Nobel Laureates that ended here on Saturday discussed and offered solutions to improve the state of humanity and the world. The conference, hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Culture and the Governor of the Royal Commission of Al-Ula Governor Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan, brought together 18 Nobel laureates of Peace, Economics, Literature, Physics, Chemistry, Physiology and Medicine alongside distinguished social and political leaders from 32 different countries.

For millennia, Al-Ula has been the place where people from all religions and different cultures have gathered, to think, discuss and exchange ideas. In this spirit, the Hegra Conference was solution-driven, and the discussions aimed at the development of clear-cut solutions in regards to the future of education, health, agriculture and economics.

Outcomes and recommendations from previous gatherings included the need for convening a global conference on world debt, pooling global AIDS research, and creation of the Middle East Science Fund (MESF).

Previous editions of the conference focused on a wide variety of complex issues, such as the role of education in combating terrorism, nonproliferation, poverty, economic empowerment, culture and the impact of globalization on societies around the world.

This year’s theme, Transmission: A Shared Heritage, examines how the transmission of ideas is a fundamental principle not only of any civilization, but of humanity as a whole.

As the site of the 2020 Hegra Conference of Nobel laureates, and in line with Vision 2030, Al-Ula is committed to developing new industry and empowering women and young people to create new businesses.

The cultural manifesto for Al-Ula sets a clear direction for the long-term development of the region and RCU’s commitment to sustainable and responsible tourism. It prioritizes the preservation of the region, its history and development of skills for current and future members of the community.

“For millennia, Al-Ula has been a cultural beacon and a meeting place of nations, where people from all religions, cultures and ideologies have gathered to exchange ideas, knowledge and trade. Today we meet with the same passion of our ancestors,” the minister of culture said welcoming the delegates.

“That is our deep belief in the role of inspiring and creative people, who present solutions to world problems and disputes, and who promote peace and prosperity, contributing to the development of humanity and sustainability at all levels. We hope that this conference will provide Nobel Prize winners a unique platform to revive the historical role of Al-ula in global cultural exchange.”

Audrey Azoulay, director General of UNESCO, said the universality and diversity seen in Al-Ula ensures that heritage is a motive for peace, education and more. “It is imperative for us to recognize the various aspects of history and embrace how heritage has a role in peaceful discourse and to create a diversity of ideas,” he said.

Amr Al-Madani, CEO of the Royal Commission for AlUla added: “In keeping with the conference’s theme of transmission, we are actively reinventing the cultural landscape of Al-Ula as nature and the arts come together. Today we are convening some of the world’s greatest thinkers in a contemporary place in an ancient land: for discovery, intellectual expression and cultural exchange that can bridge the past to the future.”