HH Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki Al Saud

Born in 1951 in Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdullah received his education in Saudi Arabia and in the United Kingdom where he studied engineering.

Prince Abdullah started his professional life with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu soon after its creation in 1975. His early career as an engineer included technical and management positions, responsibility for the coordination of various studies for the two industrial cities and later for the industrial security and safety sector. In 1985, he assumed the duties of Acting Secretary General of the Royal Commission, a post he held until 1987, when he was appointed Secretary General. In 1991, he was elevated to the position of Chairman, in which capacity he served as Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Commission and Chairman of its Board of Directors. Among many successes during his tenure, he highlights his ability to elicit and maintain continuing interest in industrial project development and financing during a difficult period characterized by sagging oil prices and two local wars fought close by the Jubail installations (Iran/Iraq and the Gulf liberation offensive).

During his tenure the Royal Commission as an organization was awarded the UN’s prestigious Sakasawa Prize, in recognition at world level of the two industrial cities’ outstanding record in environmental protection.

In April 2000, Prince Abdullah was appointed Chairman of a new organization, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), with the rank of Minister. He was charged with the task of establishing, organizing and managing SAGIA, as part of the Government’s efforts to introduce sweeping reforms to foreign investment policies and facilitate the promotion of investments in the Kingdom. His major achievement was to understand how potential investors could realize their business objectives within the complexities of the Saudi market, and to remove a long list of bureaucratic and other impediments to simplify and facilitate investment processes.

Prince Abdullah ended his four-year mandate with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority at the end of March 2004.

In May 2004, he was honored by the London Financial Times, and named one of the “Personalities of the Year” for having contributed most successfully to the raising of the Kingdom’s business profile on the world stage.

Prince Abdullah has a keen interest in environmental issues and in international relations, as well as in the Arts. He is a major figure in Saudi/Italian business relations, and was recently made Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana by the Italian Government in recognition of his services.