Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman launched a number of practical, inspiring and visionary projects at the concluding session of the Middle East Green Initiative summit, which was held in Riyadh with wide international participation by heads of state and government as well as decision-makers from around the world.

The Crown Prince said in his speech at this mammoth conference: “We, in the Middle East, are fully aware that there is a challenge. And that there are very great opportunities for our countries, so we are holding a summit today with clear goals, and our nations will work on them seriously. Successive summits will be held to follow up on the objectives that have been achieved and assess the needs of the future.

"We wll stand before the world with achievements that we are proud of in the Middle East,” the Crown Prince stressed while expressing his appreciation for everyone at the summit for their participation and cooperation.

As the Crown Prince reaffirmed, we are at the forefront of a grand project, which includes major initiatives related to creating a pure and lasting environment for human development. This file of a quality environment and green revolution that eliminates darkness and drought, in all their implications, is nothing but the bright and cheerful title of this great initiative — the project for a lively, interactive, inspiring and effective Middle East, and not a reactionary wasteland.

At a moment when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia leads this vital project vibrant with renewable human energy, we find some groups, entities and countries in the Middle East investing in projects of destruction, chaos and dereliction, which encompass all the implications of a severe drought.

Look at the impact of one of such sabotage projects. It is a project by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Wali al-Faqih on the vital issue of water. But where? In Iraq, or Mesopotamia — the land within Euphratese and Tigris where Basra Al-Fayhaa reels under a severe water crisis, while our neighboring Yemen is struggling with severe water, food and energy shortages. And in Lebanon, the only Arab country with almost no desert and is full of forests, rivers, meadows and snowy peaks, today people are starviing and are in the grip of constant fear, all because of the dominant power there — the Iranian mercenaries.

Some ignorant people have long dismissed Saudi Arabia as a land of camels and sand. This is a depiction that is both naïve and illogical, in addition to being immoral and prejudiced. Today, the Kingdom is planting trees of hope in an exhausted region. The winds of hope are beginning to bring forth waterfalls of pure light for a people who are long tired of languor and listlessness.

All of this was achieved because of the wisdom of a leadership and the unflinching determination of a state to move forward, ignoring those who betrayed it and listened to the disconsolate discourse, and those who indulged in gossip and charlatanism alone.

Our necks are stretched out wide up to the horizons, and there is no time nor desire to roll back as it will be not only futile but annoying as well. There is no time for Saudi Arabia today for a match of missed opportunities.

The Saudi Vision is really inspiring. This vision, as the UAE's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Nahyan Bin Saif Al Nahyan wrote in an article in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, is “a true embodiment of what we call today 'Investment in humanity'; everything in it goes beyond oil and money, and motivates us to work for realizing a better life for people.”

— This article was originally published in Asharq al-Awsat.