Riyadh, SPA :

 The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday afternoon.

 At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the telephone call received from President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir of the Republic of Sudan during which he thanked the Kingdom for its great services provided for pilgrims and Umrah performers in Hajj season last year.

 The Cabinet commended the confirmation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior during his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Republic of Turkey of the keenness of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to strengthen the strategic partnership with Turkey in various fields, as well as expressing its satisfaction over the identical viewpoints of the two countries on various regional and international issues.

 The Cabinet noted the outcome of the meetings of the Crown Prince during his visit to the Republic of Turkey upon the directive of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other senior officials of the Turkish government, during which they held talks that contribute to enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two sisterly countries in various fields.

 The Cabinet reviewed what was discussed by ministers with their Turkish counterparts within the framework of the visit of the Crown Prince which resulted in signing agreements in a number of aspects of cooperation between the Kingdom and Turkey.

 The Minister of State, Cabinet's Member, and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Essam bin Saad bin Saeed said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency following the session that the Cabinet stressed that the adoption of "JASTA'' Law in the United States of America is of great concern to the international community in which international relations are based on the principle of equality and sovereign immunity, the principle governing international relations for hundreds of years, and the weakening of the sovereign immunity affects negatively all countries, including the United States of America, expressing the hope that wisdom prevails and the United States Congress takes the necessary steps to avoid serious and grave consequences that may result from enacting "JASTA'' Law.

The Cabinet was briefed on a review on the 15th Ministerial Conference of International Energy Forum held in Algiers, Algeria from 26 - 27/12/1437 H, expressing its satisfaction over the outcome of the conference and the continuation of cooperation, coordination and discussion among producing and consuming countries of energy, and relevant companies and international organizations, and the forum's concentration on dialogue to stabilize the market in short and long terms.

 The Cabinet was also briefed on the results of the 170th Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which was held in Algeria on 27/12/1437 H and on the meeting's results in terms of capping the production of the organization, which aims to reduce the high business inventories and restore stability to the global oil market and expressed its hope to see continuation of cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producers to work together to achieve the benefit of both producing and consuming countries.

 The Cabinet also stressed the Kingdom's keenness on the stability of the international oil market for the interest of producing and consuming countries alike, the oil industry and the global economy and its readiness to contribute to any collective action to achieve this goal.

 Minister of State, Cabinet's Member and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Esam bin Saad bin Saeed said that the Cabinet reiterated the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's welcoming the provision of initial report by Yemeni National Investigation Committee dated August 15, 2016, which is compatible with international standards and the Kingdom's rejection of the call made by the UN High Commissioner for the formation of an international commission of inquiry, as well as the Kingdom's confirmation that the work of the Yemeni National Investigation Committee is one of the most important guarantees of impunity and accountability.

 The Cabinet highlighted the important role being played by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the field of humanitarian and relief aid including those provided by King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Works to those affected in the areas of food security, shelter, health, water and environmental health, nutrition, education, protection and early recovery and logistic services in more than 30 countries across the world, including the Republic of Yemen and Syria, as part of the Center's programs, totalling 118 programs.

The Cabinet expressed strong condemnation of the attack launched by Houthi militias on a civil vessel, affiliated to the United Arab Emirates near Aden port as it was on a normal trip to transport humanitarian assistance and evacuate civil injured people to complete their medical treatment in the UAE, describing the behavior as terrorist and jeopardizing the international navigation at Al-Mandab gate in contradiction of the international navigation regulations as well as the international and regional efforts being exerted to send relief assistance to Yemen to alleviate the sufferings of the sisterly Yemeni people.

 The Cabinet also denounced the raids targeting the Syrian city of Halab (Allepo), killing hundreds of innocent civil people including children, elders and women, welcoming the Human Rights Council's resolution issued at the end of its 33rd session in Geneva which denounced the continuation of the wide-range flagrant and systematic violations in Syria committed by the Syrian regime and affiliated militias.

 The Cabinet also condemned the explosions that took place in front of a mosque and a conference center in east Germany, confirming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's firm position calling for the importance of respecting all divine religions and human beliefs and the Kingdom's rejection of all criminal acts.

 The minister said that the Cabinet was then briefed on its agenda, including some earlier reviewed by the Shura Council. The Cabinet issued the following decisions:

 First,

 Upon recommendations of the Population Growth Follow-Up committee, set up by the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, led by the Deputy Crown Prince, the Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, the Cabinet fed the committee with two senior members, representing the Ministry of Municipal and Rural affairs, Ministry of Housing and Statistics Department, assigned the committee to analyze the population's situation in the Kingdom, including its components, trends, variations of geographical distribution, urbanization and forward periodical reports on the situation of population, transfer the Populations Growth Follow-up issue to the National Committee on Inhabitants which would update the Policy Document within six month before forwarding it to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for accreditation.

Second:

 Upon recommendations of the Standing Committee of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, the Cabinet authorized governmental bodies to use area-wise refrigeration technology when they are embarked on designing new projects, the cooling capacity of each exceeds 15,000 tons, upon conditions and standards set up by the Saudi Center for Energy Efficiency in coordination with Electricity and Dual Generation Organization Commission.

 Third:

 The Cabinet renewed working upon Para (1) and (2) of its decision No. (7) dated 1/1/1422 H. allowing the importation of Palestinian goods and products, with the Saudi government shouldering the relevant customs charges according to imported goods classification and tables system.

 Fourth:

 The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Health or his deputy to discuss with the South African side a draft memorandum of understanding between the ministry of health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the ministry of health of the Republic of South Africa on cooperation in health fields, sign it and forward the final version for domestic authentication.

 Fifth:

 The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Foreign Affairs or his deputy to discuss with the Chadian side a draft general agreement on cooperation between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of the Republic of Chad, sign it and forward the final version for domestic authentication.

Sixth:

 The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture to discuss with the Georgian side a draft of agreement on cooperation in the agricultural, livestock, fishing, forests and national parks fields between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of the Republic of Georgia, sign it and forward the final version for domestic authentication.

 Seventh:

 The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Housing or his deputy to discuss with the Jordanian side a draft memorandum of understanding in the field of housing between the ministry of housing of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the ministry of Public Works and Housing of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, sign it and forward the final version for domestic authentication.

 Eighth:

 The Cabinet approved the organizational arrangements of organizational documents for documentation and archives at governmental bodies.

 Ninth:

 The Cabinet authorized the Secretary General of King Abdulaziz Center for Archives and Information (Darat Al-Malik Abdulaziz) or his deputy to sign a draft memorandum of understanding on cooperation between Darat Al-Malik Abdulaziz of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the national library of the Republic of Bulgaria and forward the final version for domestic authentication.

 Tenth:

 The Cabinet approved the organizational arrangements for the General Commission for Entertainment.

Eleventh:

 The Cabinet approved the following promotions and transfers at the 15th and 14th ranks:

 1- promotion of Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saad Al-Dihaimi to the position of Director General of the branch of the ministry of justice in Makkah

 2- Transfer of Dr. Abdullah bin Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Abdullatif from the position of legal consultant at the 14th rank at the ministry of labor and social development to the position of administrative consultant at the 15th rank at the ministry of justice

 3- promotion of Ali bin Abdullah bin Omar Al-Omar to the position of adminsttive consultant at the 15th rank at the Supreme Magistration Council

 4- promotion of Hasan bin Abdulrahman bin Hasan Al-Sameeh to the position of Head of Judiciary at the 14th rank at the ministry of justice

 5- promotion of Saad bin Marzoooq bin Rashid Al-Harbi to the position of assistant undersecretary of municipality for security affairs at the 14th rank at the municipality of Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah

 6- promotion of Abdulrahman in Abdullah bin Ali Al-Msfer to the position of financial consultant at the 14th rank at the General Auditing Bureau.

 The Cabinet was also briefed on a number of general issues on its agenda, including the outcomes of the participation of His Excellency the Minister of Economy and Planning in the Saudi British Joint Committee on Economic Offset program, the final report of the ministry of environment, water and agriculture on a previous fiscal year, an analysis study on the labor market and laborers situation in the private sector, assessing the extent of dependence of the labor market on expatriate laborers in some positions and sectors in different regions. The Cabinet instructed the competent authorities of his views.