Riyadh, SPA:
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session held at Al-Yamamah Palace here yesterday.
At the outset of the session, the King briefed the Cabinet on the results of his talks with President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, during which they reviewed ways to develop and strengthen bilateral relations in various fields and latest regional and international developments.
The Cabinet expressed its appreciation for royal decrees issued recently including procedures of merging, transforming and amending in a number of bodies and ministries, stressing that they come within the framework of reforms and changes aimed at developing the homeland and the welfare of citizens in all regions of the Kingdom in line with the vision 2030, and providing everything that contributes to achieving their aspirations and ambitions. The Cabinet welcomed ministers appointed in their new posts, wishing them all success.
The Cabinet stressed that precautionary measures that the Kingdom has taken temporarily, as a complement to the efforts to provide maximum protection for the safety of citizens, residents and all who come to the Kingdom’s lands to perform Umrah, visit the Prophet’s Mosque or for tourism, based on the recommendations of health authorities concerned with applying the highest precautionary standards and taking proactive preventive measures on the Coronavirus (19-COVID) and its spread locally and globally, are subject to continuous evaluation by concerned authorities, and added to the Kingdom's support for all international measures taken to curb the spread of this virus.
The Cabinet also praised the efforts being made by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, the Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies to tackle the virus, follow up any economic repercussions and make necessary arrangements to deal with it.
Minister of State, Cabinet's Member, Acting Minister of Media, Dr. Essam bin Saad bin Saeed said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency after the session that the Cabinet followed up what was called on by the Arab Health Ministers Council at the end of its fifty-third session in Cairo on the need to enhance cooperation between Arab countries to implement joint measures to prevent the transmission of the new Coronavirus, support countries affected by the virus when monitoring new cases, make the best use of activating risk assessment systems and approaches at the level of Arab countries, and continue implementing preventive measures as per World Health Organization guidelines.
The Cabinet reviewed the contents of the joint statement issued at the end of the visit of President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to the Kingdom, signing of memorandums of understanding and cooperation programs, the enhancement of communication between the two countries at all levels in various fields, and their commitment to continue combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, stressing the depth of the ties between the two sisterly countries, and the Kingdom's permanent and continuous support for everything that serves and achieves further cooperation between them.
Acting Minister of Media stated that the Cabinet took note of the appreciation of 37th session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, held, in Tunis, of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's support for Naif Arab University for Security Sciences as well as endorsing reports on member states' implementation of plans of Arab security strategies.
The Cabinet renewed the Kingdom’s call before the UN Human Rights Council, for the international community and the Human Rights Council to move quickly to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people from violations committed and holding the Israeli occupation forces accountable for all violations against the Palestinians, stressing the need to oblige them to respect international law, implement relevant international resolutions, affirming continued support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Palestinian people, at all levels.
Referring to the activities of the 2nd Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum, which was organized by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, with the participation of 80 countries and 100 international, governmental and international organizations, eleven universities, the Cabinet emphasized that the Kingdom standce is to provide those affected by wars and disasters around the world with relief and humanitarian aid, as it is keen to establish international peace and security through programs and initiatives leading to support sustainable development and the participation of the international community through the United Nations and its various agencies to achieve development goals, and that the humanitarian work offered by the Kingdom is based on a consistent and clear strategy that does not bet on neither gaining any political purposes nor religious or ethnic considerations as that is the principle cherished by the Kingdom as a path and humanitarian approach in dealings and as its mission is based on genuine partnership with the world.
The Acting Minister of Media stated that the Cabinet also discussed the Kingdom’s investment in developing new technologies for clean energy solutions, including carbon sequestration, use, and storage technology, in the carbon circular economy model and the economic and environmental benefits it brings to achieve the goals set in the targeted areas simultaneously, referring in this context to the International Carbon Sequestration, Utilization and Storage (ICCUS 2020) held in Riyadh, with the participation of ministers and magnates of the energy sector from the countries of the world and the Arab Gulf, and CEOs of major international companies.
The Cabinet issued the following decisions:
First:
The Cabinet approved a security cooperation agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of India.
Second:
The Cabinet approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of India in the field of combating illegal traffic and smuggling of drugs, psychotropic substances and chemical precursors.
Third:
The Cabinet authorized the Attorney General, or his deputy, to discuss with the concerned authorities in other countries regarding a draft memorandum of cooperation in the field of combating indigenous crimes, terrorism, its financing and money laundering between the Public Prosecution of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and competent authorities in other countries, sign it, and forward the final signed copy, to complete the formal procedures.
Fourth:
The Cabinet approved amendments of Articles 46th and 47th of the bankruptcy system.
Fifth:
The Cabinet renewed the membership of Jamal bin Ali Al-Kishi and appointed Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Rabdi (an affiliate of the private sector) to the Board of Directors of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation.
Sixth:
The Cabinet approved promotions to ranks, 15th and 14th as follows:
1- Mohammad bin Ahmed bin Salem Basudan to the position of Administrative Consultant, rank 15, at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance.
2- Salama bin Salman bin Salim Al-Lahibi to the position of Under Secretary for Services, rank 15, at the Principality of Madinah.
3- Abdullah bin Suleiman bin Ibrahim Al-Khulaifi to the position of Economic Expert, rank 14, at the Ministry of Economy and Planning.
4- Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Jibreen to the position of Director General of the General Authority for Al-Ifta, rank 14, at the General Presidency for Scholarly Research and Ifta.
5- Miteb bin Hussein bin Rada Al-Maliki to position of Director of the Public Prosecutor's Office, rank 14, at the Public Prosecution.
The Cabinet reviewed a number of general topics on its agenda, including annual reports of the Ministries of Sport, Environment, Water, Agriculture, and Media, for two previous fiscal years.