Jeddah, SPA:

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

 In a statement to Saudi Press Agency following the session, Minister of State, Member of the Cabinet and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Dr. A asem bin Saad bin Saeed said that the cabinet reviewed a number of reports on the latest developments of events in the region and the world, commending the decision of the United Nations to delete the name of the coalition countries to defend the legitimacy in Yemen from the list annexed to the report of the Secretary General of the United Nations on children and military conflicts as the report was not based on accurate and reliable information about the coalition s efforts. The cabinet reiterated the keenness of the coalition on security, stability and safety of civilians including children.

 The Cabinet condemned the terrorist incidents Beirut, Istanbul and Orlando, Florida, US, which led to killing and wounding a number of people, reiterating the Kingdom s renunciation of all forms of violence and at the same time reiterates its full support for all efforts to confront and prosecute perpetrators of these incidents. The cabinet reiterated the kingdom s rejection of terrorism and its standing by international efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms.

 In local affairs, the minister said that the Cabinet continued being briefed on the system of services and plans prepared by various government agencies and public and private sectors to serve the worshippers of citizens, residents, visitors and Umrah performers in the Two Holy Mosques in this holy month to achieve the aspirations of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Crown Prince and the Deputy Crown Prince and their keenness that these sectors translate their plans on the ground and in the spirit of one team.

The Cabinet was briefed on the outcomes of 23rd annual meeting of Governors of regions and its decisions and recommendations aiming to facilitate and ease citizens' affairs wherever they are in the governorates of different regions as well as to enhance security and overall development to serve the interests of the homeland and its citizens to achieve the aspirations of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and his keenness on achieving the prosperity of citizens and expatriates alike.

 The Cabinet appreciated the national transformation program's details announced after the Cabinet's approval of the national transformation program which is one of the programs of "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030", and the program's use of many innovative ways to accommodate the challenges facing the governmental and public sectors in the Kingdom and address them to achieve positive results for the homeland and its citizens, stressing that this program is one of the important programs within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, whose achievement will lead to a solid and strong economy in which the welfare of citizens will be enhanced according to the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

 Dr. Essam bin Saad bin Saeed reported that the Cabinet was briefed on the topics on its agenda and decided the following:

 First:

 The Cabinet approved a number of arrangements regarding the General Authority of Civil Aviation and the Board of Director of the General Organization of Saudi Arabian Airlines, including:

 1 - Formation of the Board of Director of the Saudi Arabian Airlines, according to the following:

• The Board of Directors shall be formed of a president who must be appointed by an order of the Prime Minister, and the membership of the Director General of the General Organization of Saudi Arabian Airlines, and no more than four persons representing the government agencies - at least with the rank 15 or equivalent - and five persons representing the private sector. Those representatives of government agencies and the private sector shall be appointed by a decision of the Cabinet, and their membership duration is three years, renewable once.

• The appointment of the Chairman of the General Organization of Saudi Arabian Airlines, and members of the Board of Directors shall be on the nomination of the Chairman of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development.

 2 - Reorganization of the provisions relating to the meetings of the Board of Directors as set out in the decision in details.

 Second:

 The Cabinet decided to approve the protocol amending the Marrakesh Agreement on the establishment of the World Trade Organization.

 The Cabinet decided to authorize the Minister of Foreign Affairs to sign the tool of acceptance of the protocol amending the aforementioned agreement.

 Third:

 The Council of Ministers decided to approve the necessary controls and conditions of the license for foreign companies to invest in wholesale and retail trade sector with 100% ownership.

 Prominent among the controls is opening the field of investment activity in wholesale and retail trade for all foreign companies operating in this sector and not be restricted to manufacturers of their products, in line with those in the vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2030), which contained a trend to ease restrictions on the ownership and foreign investment in the retail sector to attract regional and international brands, contributing to the creation of job opportunities for the citizens in this sector.

 Fourthly:

 The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Labour and Social Development -or deputy- to sign a draft executive program for cooperation in the field of social affairs between the Ministry of Labour and Social Development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Social Development in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, in the framework of the Saudi-Jordanian Joint Committee.

Fifth:

 The Cabinet decided to approve the Implementing Rules of the Undeveloped Land Fees Regulation.

 The most prominent features of the Implementing Rules of the Undeveloped Land Fees Regulation:

 1 - Undeveloped lands are defined as all vacant lands dedicated to residential use or commercial residential use within the urban boundary limits.

 2 - The application of fees on lands subject to the regulation and its rules shall be according to the following stages:

• First: undeveloped land with an area of ten thousand square meters and more, located within the range set by the ministry.

• Second: developed land belonging to one owner in an approved and one plan as long as its total area is more than ten thousand square meters.

• Third: developed land belonging to one owner in one and approved plan as long as its total area is more than five thousand square meters.

 3 - The Ministry of Housing shall collect the applied fees in this regard as well as the fines imposed for violation of the rules or regulations, and take the necessary measures to prevent evasion of the payment of these fees and fines.

 Sixth:

 The Cabinet approved King Saud University's signing of a draft memorandum of academic cooperation between King Saud University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Moscow State University in Russia.

 Seventh:

 The Cabinet decided that the Minister of Transport shall be the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Railways (SAR), and that the company shall be the owner of the infrastructure of the projects for transport of rail lines linking the cities of the Kingdom.

Eighth:

 The Cabinet approved the final account of the Saudi Bank of Credit and Savings for the fiscal year (1434/1435 H).

 Ninth:

 The Cabinet approved the following appointments:

 1 - Mughaddi bin Misfer bin Mughaddi Al-Wadaai as Director General of the Office of Governor of Asir Region, rank 14.

 2 - Abdulrahman bin Abdullah bin Hamad Alhanitah as Director General of a Department at the Ministry of Defense, rank 14.

 3 - Badr bin Abdul Mohsen bin Abdullah Al-Mqahm as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 4 - Engineer Khalid bin Nasser bin Saleh Al Aqeel as Planning Consultant Engineer at the Municipality of the Eastern Region, rank 14.

 The Cabinet was briefed on the proposal of the Government of the Republic of Finland to reactivate Saudi-Finnish Joint Committee, and directed that the Finnish side be informed of the approval of the Government of the Kingdom of the re-activation of the Saudi-Finnish Joint Committee as provided for in Article (3) of the Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom and the Government of the Republic of Finland and that the Saudi side in this committee shall be presided by the Ministry of Commerce and Investment at the level of the Undersecretary of the Ministry.