Saudi king appoints new Jeddah mayor, deputy culture minister

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has appointed a new mayor for the city of Jeddah, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported late on Friday.

King Salman issued a royal order appointing Saleh bin Ali bin Abdulrahman Al-Turki as mayor of Jeddah governorate.

He replaces Hani Mohammed Abu Ras, who stepped down from the role in May completing two four-year terms as mayor of Jeddah.

Deputy mayor Abdullatif Al-Harthy was appointed as the acting mayor at the time.

The new mayor, Saleh Al-Turki, is the president and chairman of diversified conglomerate Nesma Holding Company, the chairman of Jeddah Holding Company and Saudi Foras Investment Company, as well as a board director at the Arab Poultry Breeders Company (Ommat) and ReAya Holding, according to the Nesma website.

He also sits on the Coutts Middle East advisory board.

Al-Turki previously served as the chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers, and a member of the Consultative Council in Makkah region.

In a second appointment, King Salman also issued a royal order appointing Hamid bin Mohammed bin Hamid Fayez as the deputy minister of Culture.

The Culture ministry was created by a royal decree last month with Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Farhan appointed as its minister.

“The mission of this ministry is to cater toward culture in all its fields. Culture is part of soft power which we hope to cultivate in service to country and national identity,” Prince Badr told Al-Arabiya at the time.