Date: 1 March 2010

Recent international university rankings have shown that three Saudi Arabia-based universities have  joined the ­international league table of the world’s top universities.

According to January 2010 Webometrics of World Universities, King Saud University was among top 200 world universities at position 199. Two other universities from Saudi Arabia were listed in the top 500 universities, namely, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, ranked 404 and king Abdulaziz university ranked 496.

Webometrics of World Universities is produced by Cybermetrics Lab , a unit of the National Research Council , the main public research body in Spain. It offers information about more than 4,000 universities according to their web-presence (a computerized assessment of the size and sophistication of the website).

In 2009, King Saud University was admitted to the academic ranking of World universities , known as shanghai  ranking, within the top 500 international universities and the sole Arabic University.

The  academic ranking  of world universities (ARWU) is compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University  and is one of the two most prominent world university rankings

According to 2009 QS World university rankings ,  two universities from Saudi Arabia were included in the list of top 300 universities, namely, King Saud University, ranked 247 and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, ranked 266.

The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), a British publication that is published in association with Quacquarelli Symonds, annually publishes the THES-QS World University Rankings, which ranks universities around the world.

"With the implementation of the reform plans of Saudi Ministry of Higher Education, it is expected that more universities will gain positions among top-performing world class universities." Abdulkader Alfantookh, deputy minister of higher education (MOHE) for planning and information, said.

Alfantookh added that this is being carried out through transforming Saudi universities into "functional developmental institutes" through a careful balance of international academic standards, national needs, local cultural identity, and careful management of knowledge production, management, dissemination, access, and control.

"The Saudi Government is to be applauded for its efforts to build its university system. It has embarked on a very long term venture, since a world class university takes decades to develop under the best of circumstances."John Daly, a science and technology consultant and a former director of office of research  at US Agency for International Development (USAID), said.

"The development of a knowledge-based society is a laudable goal, and I hope Saudi Arabia is successful in its efforts to do so." Daly concluded.