“Saudi Arabia is a longtime friend of the United States, and the countries could cooperate with each other to help the disabled people in the Middle East,” said Kenneth E. Behring, president of the US-based Wheelchair Foundation.

Behring, who is on a tour of the region, added that Saudi Arabia occupies a strategic location in the region from where several neighboring countries could be well served.

In Riyadh he met with Prince Sultan ibn Salman, chairman of the Disabled Children’s Association, and also visited the Prince Sultan Humanitarian City here.

Although it was his first visit to the Kingdom, Behring said it was clear that Saudis were generous people. “I could read the minds of the people from the state-of-the-art equipment they donated at the Disabled Center in Riyadh,” he said.

Behring’s foundation, established four years ago, donates wheelchairs to the needy around the world. “There are 150 million people in the world who cannot afford to buy wheelchairs,” he said.