Seoul National University

Dinner Remarks
President Jang-Moo Lee
The Conferment of an Honorary Doctorate upon
His Excellency Minister Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi
Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Seoul National University
May 15, 2008

Your Excellency Minister Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Your Excellency Minister Doh-Yeon Kim, distinguished guests, respected colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening. 샬람 알리콤! We have gathered here to celebrate His Excellency Minister Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi's exemplary accomplishments over his long and distinguished career in administration, business and education. His Excellency Minister Al-Naimi has been one of the world's most influential leaders over the decades. His dedicated endeavor to solve the energy problem while protecting the Earth from pollution has been an outstanding example for the world and will leave a rich and profound legacy for future generations as well.

Throughout his illustrious career as a leader in government administration, petroleum industry and world diplomacy, His Excellency Minister Al-Naimi has always sought to achieve prosperity for the whole world. I was very impressed by the depth of his insight reading his speech given at the International Oil Summit in Paris last April. Addressing the direct relationships between energy, the welfare of the natural environment, economic growth and human prosperity, he proposes that the challenges before us are great and we must confront them with a commitment to collaboration, objectivity, and the welfare not only of our generation, but of the generations to follow. For his dedication, His Excellency Minister Al-Naimi has been honored by innumerable awards and prizes from many countries including Korea.

However, most of all, as University President, I would like to highlight His Excellency Minister Al-Naimi as role model for young Koreans, as someone who aimed high in his youth and has pursued a life-long goal of joining the leaders in his specific field thereby contributing to the promotion of human prosperity. As a firm believer in education and research, he has always emphasized the continuation of scientific research on the energy problem and environment preservation. He also started a fellowship program to send Saudi Arabian students to Korean universities to further their studies and is now playing a pivotal role in establishing King Abdullah University for Science and Technology.

His Excellency Minister Al-Naimi's love for Korea, Korean people and Korean mountains is a famous one.  I'd like to express my sincere gratitude for his love of Korea and his invaluable help in promoting Korea's relationships with Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries. One day, when you can find some free time, I'd like to invite you to our beautiful Kwanak Mountain, where you can appreciate some of the nature which surrounds our campus.

Your Excellency, It gives me great pleasure to host this dinner in your honor and in celebration of your incomparable lifetime achievements. I know that all of my colleagues join me in expressing our profound respect for all that you have done to develop the world. Thank you very much.