The importance of the emergence of European military industries goes back to the fact that it was influenced by the European military doctrine which holds that weapons constitute the decisive element in the battlefield. This doctrine was never adopted by the Orient where it is generally believed that courage and boldness are among the decisive factors affecting the final result of a battle. It was because of this attitude that the Mamluks used to arrange their columns in the form of a crescent-like curve with horsemen rushing very fast and with great courage, but in a haphazard way, hoping to frighten the enemy and make them turn their backs and run away in terror. Such a tactic may prove successful with an army of the Middle East, but, unfortunately, it did not help the Mamluks in their ill-fated showdown with the French Army in Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Al-Ahram (the Pyramids) in 1798. The French, who had upper hand because of the superiority of their weapons, managed to destroy the Mamluks' army in just two hours, killing 5000 of the Mamluks while Napoleon's army lost only 300 men. While the great courage displayed by the Mamluks did not work in the battlefield, it did impress Napoleon who was so surprised that he decided to pick one the Mamluks for his personal secretary. Not only that but the French leader kept that secretary even after he became the Emperor of France. The same scene was repeated in Latin America where less than 200 Spanish soldiers were able to defeat thousands of red Indians.

Napoleon was also able to sweep the whole of Europe because of his superior military industries, especially the artillery which gave him clear edge over others. But of course he was later defeated and collapsed causing his country, France, to slide to the bottom of the list and remain there until it was finally able to catch up with the  industrial revolution forty years later in the reign of Napoleon III.

With the continuous and alternate turn of events, France was at one time defeated by England, all European countries were defeated by France under Napoleon and then France was itself defeated by Germany under Otto Von Bismarck in 1871 and the French Emperor was taken prisoner. Despite all these rupturing defeats, European countries managed to recover and come up with an advanced industrial revival during that period.

Today, with the existence of favorable conditions and an environment suitable for productivity, it has become a must that we give opportunity to the talented, the creative and to inventors from among our own compatriots to come forward and present their creative and innovative ideas of industrial value which could have the potential of being promoted and invested for the sake of promoting development, pushing the national economy and ultimately carrying the banner of a knowledgeable and futuristic Saudi industry to the different industrial sectors in the Kingdom which have the capability of contributing to the efforts being made to enhance productivity.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, chairman of  King Abdul Aziz and his Men's Foundation for Talent and Creativity (Mawhiba) once said: "Talent that is not taken care of by its own people is comparable to a seedling left without care or watering and it is not acceptable either by religious standards or by any reasonable judgment to ignore or neglect the energy of talented people. It is therefore the business of all of us to care for our seedlings and give them ample attention to grow up into full trees so that the branches will bear leaves whose shade will be wide enough for all of us to sit in by the grace of Allah. All this is directed to building a future for which we stand in a dire need in these times of creativity and to goal of polishing talent to make it more relevant to reality in order to promote the cause of our religious faith and our homeland". With those words the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques manifested his attention and keenness to engage in investment leading to the development of human resources which is indeed the centerpiece of the goals of all modern strategies and, of course, listed as a top priority for our wise leadership as it seeks to lay the ground for a creative community.

The patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of the Exhibition held under the title of "Ibtikar 2010" (Innovation 2010) provides evidence of his attention to this active national umbrella of institutions, agencies, universities, research centers, organizations and individuals. The system has successfully acted as a platform for presenting the innovative ideas and designs submitted by many male and female inventors and talented individuals from different age groups, who have the potential to hold up the Kingdom's national flag high in any international meetings. Therefore, king Abdullah's direct attention to those activities and their mechanisms emphasizes the keenness of the Kingdom's leadership on implanting the culture of creativity cognizant of the importance of such a trend in pushing forward the Kingdom's drive to catch up with developed countries.

The recognition and appreciation of the work of these researchers and inventors (the nucleus generation of a promising future), at an early age of their lives, is the way to enable them to go forward and explore new and more challenging areas on the way to success which could finally prove to be beneficial to them and to  national organizations in the long run. Those individuals could now  look forward to a bright future in light of the support provided by the leadership and since they have now been encouraged to try Nano technologies, the energy industry, science, medicine, space science… etc. If look closer at the efforts being made for the development of this special type of national work force we will notice the underlying main goal, that is the development of manpower comes first and the development of institutions comes after. Such a positive attention to honoring the national work force through the development of the culture of creativity and innovation is sure to become the driving force for the creation of a new class of human resources and the production a competitive environment within our national institutions finally leading to an improved quality of production, improved ability to compete internationally and to laying the groundwork for a knowledgeable economy in the Kingdom.

Investment in capacity building through the development of manpower will certainly turn our society into the knowledgeable society that will seek solution to existing and future challenges through the encouragement of innovative work in the field of developing new technologies or the improvement of existing production techniques to finally reflect the ever-growing need to attend to creativity. The process can go beyond that limit to protect the distinguished intellectual production of the new generation and contribute to the development of a fertile environment for investing in the sponsorship of innovative ideas through the above-mentioned exhibition which is becoming a regular forum for industrialists, talented people and specialist organizations attending to innovative ideas making it a possible springboard for supporting institutional contributions to the national economy with the end goal of carrying out the national strategy for development and industrialization established by our wise government.

It's a great pride for the nation to be built by the hands of its own people who should move along the lines drawn to achieve the national goals of their country passing them on from one generation to another based on mature plans based on a scientific methodology aimed at building an integrated base of a national work force which will serve the goals of integration between the public and the private sectors. This process is deemed to use quality standards of excellence to ensure a successful realization of the prescribed goals and to put our country at level with the major industrial powers.

Finally, we stand in full respect and appreciation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz's initiative endorsed by the Council of Ministers on 6/9/1431H for the establishment of a prize named "The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Prize for Honoring Inventors and Talented People". The purpose of this prize is stated as aiming to contribute to the development of science, technology and industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, encouraging and recognizing inventors and talented people and developing the spirit of creation, innovation and invention. The idea carried by this prize speaks very well of the practical attitude of the Kingdom's leadership towards the change over to a creative society and the emphasis it is putting on the national vision with regard to talent and innovation. It all pays to encourage talent and uncommon capabilities, exploit the energy inherent in individuals and urge them to engage into fruitful competition. Such mobilization represents the positive reaction to the requirements of globalization, the Kingdom's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the vigorous competition among the industrialized nations. It further helps the community of talent and creativity to step forward and present innovative ideas and inventions of industrial and economic value that have the potential of being marketed and invested in the interest of development and to help the national economy.

Brigadier General Dr. / Saleh Ibrahim Al-Tassan