Prince Alwaleed Meets & Hosts Dinner in Honor of Former US President Jimmy Carter

March 26th 2015

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, and Chairman of Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundations, received at Kingdom Resort, Mr. Jimmy Carter, Former United States President and Mrs. Rosalynn Carter. Mr. Carter’s visit was part of an official trip to Saudi Arabia. To mark the occasion HRH hosted a dinner in honor of his guest at Kingdom Resort. Mr. Carter was accompanied by a delegation from the Carter Center that included Mr. Curtis Kohlhaas, Chief Development Officer, Mr. Hrair Balian, Director, Conflict Resolution Program and Ms. Beth Davis, Scheduler. In addition, the meeting was attended by Mr. Timothy A. Lenderking, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of United States of America to Saudi Arabia.

The meeting began as HRH and Mr. Carter discussed the long standing friendship between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Prince Alwaleed and Mr. Carter discussed HRH’s local, regional and international investments in the various sectors of media, banking, hotels and real estate. Furthermore, on the agenda of discussions were His Highness’s global donations through the activities of the Alwaleed Bin Talal philanthropic and humanitarian foundations. Moreover, on the agenda of discussions were the philanthropic efforts made by the Carter Center and the center’s current projects and programs.

Also Mr. Carter commended the Prince on his efforts to encourage East-West dialogue to bridge the understanding between the two cultures. Prince Alwaleed donated $20 million to Georgetown University as a gift to support and expand its Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU) and donated $20 million to Harvard University to create the University-wide Islamic Studies Program. Furthermore, the Prince donated $10 million to the American University in Cairo and $5 million to the American University in Beirut.

In 2012, HRH and President Carter were the featured speakers at a thought-leader dinner in Boston. The Gala dinner hosted by Prince Alwaleed, honored the dedicated work of the six prestigious Prince Alwaleed Centers for Intercultural Understanding at leading Universities across the world including: Harvard, Georgetown, Edinburgh, Cambridge, American University in Cairo and American University of Beirut.

In 2009 and in 2008, Prince Alwaleed had received Former President Carter at Kingdom Resort and hosted a dinner in honor of his guest. Mr. Carter’s visit was part of an official trip to Saudi Arabia.

In 2004, Prince Alwaleed met with President Carter at the center named after him atop a hill outside Atlanta, Georgia, to learn more about the African disease eradication efforts undertaken by the center. The Prince had pledged over $7 million to support the Carter Center Peace and Health and community development programs. Moreover, Prince Alwaleed has expressed his readiness to strengthen the alliance with the Carter Center through Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation* by extending further support to its initiatives.