Accra Mayor Presents City�s Key To Saudi Prince Alwaleed

Accra Mayor Alfred Oko Vanderpuije on Monday presented Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Alsaud with the key to the city, urging him to continue his role as Accra�s strategic development partner to uplift the metropolis to a Millennium City status. �We are indeed honoured to have the Saudi Prince in Accra�..We recognize your commitments to the development of this city and we look forward to your involvement in the improvement of Accra. �We hope your visit would further strengthen the relations between your country and Ghana and foster more investment in and development of our city for our mutual benefit�, Vanderpuije said, when the visiting Prince paid a courtesy call on him at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. Prince Alwaleed is in Accra for the official opening of the 100-million dollar Moevenpick Ambassador Hotel, a joint venture between the Government of Ghana and the Saudi prince who is also a businessman. Vanderpuije told the Prince that since the adoption of Accra as a Millennium city, steps were being made to enhance the livelihoods of the city�s five million residents, particularly the improvement of transportation, road networks, educational infrastructure, as well as water and sanitation in the metropolis. He said the AMA was committed to investing in the betterment of Accra and thus sought interventions that would benefit the people in areas such as infrastructural and educational development, such as the Saudi Prince, who are had demonstrated his zeal to contribute to Accra�s modernization. The Mayor said that the AMA recognized the contributions that Prince Alwaleed was making to the development of the world and to humanity, expressing hope that the Princes� renowned philanthropic spirit would be felt by Accra residents in the form of more investments to improve the look of the capital. Prince Alwaleed said his investment in Ghana indicated his trust in Accra and the Ghanaian people and that the alliance he had forged with the country transcended investment, covering education, health and research fields. He expressed appreciation to the AMA for supporting the construction of his projects in Accra, committing to play a major role in Ghana�s socio-economic development efforts and invest in sectors that would hold benefit for the people. The Prince, who is also the Chairman of the Saudi-based Kingdom Holding Company, with interest in banking, estate development, hospitality, telecommunication, agriculture, information technology, media, entertainment, travel and automotive manufacturing, commended the peace and stability in the country that made it a better destination for investment. "I would endeavour to assist the Government and Ghanaians to fulfil their aspirations in development," he added.