The forum is organised by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund under the slogan 'Future Investment Initiative.'

Shaikh Salman expressed his gratitude to HRH Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, for his invitation, and wished the international forum every success.

The AFC President said that the event showed the vision of the Saudi Crown Prince and highlighted his efforts to develop a greater future for Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, in general, as well as promoting the global image of Saudi Arabia.

Shaikh Salman said: “The AFC’s vision has underlined our desire to ensure our teams stand proud with the world’s best and our youth teams, both men and women, continue to show remarkable signs of progress in recent years.

“All four teams have worked incredibly hard in the AFC U-16 Championship and on behalf of the AFC and Asian football family, we wish them the very best of campaigns in Brazil.

“Some of the biggest names in Asian football have proven their calibre on this stage and I am confident that our players and teams will showcase once again the incredible talent that exists on our great Continent.”

New signing Ahmed Akaichi repaid the faith placed on him with his 32nd minute strike proving the all-important decider as Al Ahed grabbed a 1-0 aggregate victory over Jordan’s Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

Just 24 hours later in Pyongyang, 4.25 secured their passage on away goals against Hanoi FC after the second leg of the Inter-Zone final ended 0-0 following a 2-2 draw in the first leg.

Al Ahed and 4.25 SC will now chase history in the 2019 AFC Cup final in Pyongyang on November 2.

Shaikh Salman said the FIFA Council’s unanimous decision to appoint China PR as the host of the first edition of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021, Indonesia as hosts of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2021 and Tokyo as hosts of the 71st FIFA Congress in May 2021, reaffirmed the faith and glowing confidence of global football in Asia.

The AFC President said: "The selection of the People's Republic of China to host the first edition of the new FIFA Club World Cup is a historic event. There will be 24 teams competing for the first time in the history of the event, and I would like to say that we at the Asian Football Confederation supported the new formula for FIFA Club World Cup, because it had the chance to develop the game.”

Shaikh Salman also stressed that the decision to award Indonesia the hosting rights of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2021 will develop the game and tap into the huge popularity of football in the country. He added that Indonesia will stage an extremely successful event.

The AFC President also explained that the appointment of Tokyo as the host of the 71st FIFA Congress will be a great opportunity to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Japan FA, and will be a fitting tribute to the football heritage in Japan and its influence in Asian and global football.

Shaikh Salman confirmed that the AFC will provide all the support required for Asian countries to host successful and world-class events .

The two finalists will also complete Asia’s line-up alongside host India at the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, which will take place from November 2 to 21 next year.

“The Tajikistan Football Federation has enjoyed great stability over the years and your progress is a sign of that strength and the vision of the TFF President,” said Shaikh Salman, who also noted Tajikistan’s unbeaten run in the Asian Qualifiers which sees them lead Group F that also features the likes of powerhouses Japan as well Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and Myanmar.

“And now the CAFA Headquarters are herein Dushanbe, there is the added responsibility to look after football in the region and I am confident that with the leadership of President Emomali, CAFA will enhance the quality of football development in the Central Zone."

Praising the AFC President for his visit, the TFF President said that his team was encouraged by the positive feedback from Shaikh Salman. “We are pleased with the words of encouragement from the AFC President and we want to put on record our commitment to develop football in this country as well as the region.

“The last time the President was here, he inaugurated a mini-pitch project and now he can observe at first-hand how we are benefitting from these pitches. I am assured by the President that these sort of development projects will keep coming and that we need to make sure that we are also proactive in ensuring their success,” he added.

The high-level discussion centred on the role and impact of the government reforms in the rise of football in Uzbekistan.

Shaikh Salman praised Uzbekistan’s policy to popularise mass sports, including support for the development of football and reiterated the Confederation's commitment to jointly promote new programmes with the Uzbekistan Football Association.

HE Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted the dynamically developing partnerships between Uzbekistan and the AFC aimed at creating favourable conditions for the popularisation of football in the Central Asian country and the extensive engagement of young people to it.