Health minister reiterates Saudi support for international efforts to tackle and fund health emergencies

Health minister reiterates Saudi support for international efforts to tackle and fund health emergencies

DHAHRAN: With the motto “Inspiring Hearts. Enriching Minds,” the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Ithra, in the last five years has transformed itself into a cultural hub worthy of its name.

For its fifth anniversary, the center said it has hosted more than 3.5 million visitors and 20,000 original programs and activities since opening. To date, Ithra has offered 48 performances, won 26 national and international awards, hosted 20 museum exhibits, engaged 1.8 followers on social media platforms and produced 23 films. Its 9,000 volunteers have donated 664,000 hours.

But it is just getting started.

Ithra, the jewel of the Eastern Province, is a multidimensional space for creative and cultural activities crafted to provide

an enriching experience to local communities and visitors. (Supplied)

Ithra, a Saudi Aramco initiative, was inaugurated by King Salman five years ago, and, that same year, appeared on TIME’s list of the World’s 100 Greatest Places of 2018. The magazine said Ithra’s “striking forms rise 295 feet from the desert, but this is no mirage.”

When Well No. 7, later named “Prosperity Well,” struck black liquid gold in 1938, six years after the nation unified as a Kingdom, the whole region changed, along with the world. Soon after, the well in