Jeddah, SPA:

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session held last evening at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah.

 At the outset of the meeting, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques expressed thanks to Allah Almighty to have enabled all Muslims everywhere to attend the current holy fasting month of Ramadan, appealing to Allah to help them complete the fasting and worshipping during Ramadan and accept their good deeds.

 The monarch also expressed thanks to Their Majesty, Excellences, and Highnesses, the leaders and officials of the sisterly countries and the citizens of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their noble feelings and sincere felicitations and wishes on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, appealing to Allah to return it to all people in good omen and grace and help the worshippers at the two holy mosques to complete their rituals in ease and comfort, accept their worshipping and forgive them.

 Following that, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the outcome of his meetings with President Mohammed Ashraf Ghani of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Mohammed Najib Abdulrazzaq, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

 In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the meeting, Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad, Minister of Culture and Information, said that the Cabinet extended sincere congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Crown Prince, the Deputy Crown Prince, the citizens of the Kingdom and all Arab and Muslim peoples on the occasion of the blessed month, focusing on the contents of the speech delivered by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addressing the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all Muslims on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, citing his calls for the Islamic nation who is facing a number of crises, challenges and dangers to remain abiding by the instructions of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) that relations among the members of the Islamic nation is just like that of the same body as, once an organ of the body is feeling annoyed or injured or harmed, the other organs express sympathy through keeping awake and giving rise to fever. The Cabinet also cited the King's point that the meeting of the leaders of the Islamic nation in Riyadh emanated from the keenness of the Kingdom to exert whatever effort to best serve the unity of Muslims and unite the Arab and Islamic nations and that the Kingdom will remain, God willing, keen to achieve the noble goal of unifying efforts to wipe out extremism and terrorism as Islam is the religion of mercy, moderation and co-existence.

The cabinet valued, in a statement, the contents of the Saudi-American joint communique, issued at the conclusion of the latest visit of the U.S. President Donald Trump to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the details that tackled the well-established strategic and historical relations between the two countries, which have grown and deepened through the last eight decades, in all domains, pointing that the visit has contributed to consolidate these relationships in order to bring about more stability, security and prosperity.

 The Declaration of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the US President on their common stance to confront mutual foes, the cabinet stated,

 aims at deepening existing bonds and draw up a path for peace and flourish for all, indicating that the two leaders agreement on a new strategic partnership for the 21st century, also, aimed at realizing the interest of the two countries, according to the statement.

 The announcement of the Joint Saudi-American Strategic Vision carves out a new path towards a Middle East that enjoys peace, stressing that the contents of the communique expressed the two countries shared willingness to confront threats to their interests and mutual security and showing their resolve, in this aspect, to embark on new initiatives to counter violent extremism discourse and to hamper terrorism funding, in addition to cementing defense cooperation, in order to lay emphasis on eliminating IS, Al-Qaeda network and other terrorist-like outfits, the Cabinet statement remarked.

 The statement casst emphasis on fighting terrorism, by all means, and agreement on the necessity to contain Iran's nefarious interventions, in the internal affairs of other countries and igniting sectarian seditions, backing up of terrorism and armed proxies and its wrongdoings to destabilize nations, in the region, adding that Iran's interference poses a threat to regional as well as the world security.

The minister also said that the Cabinet commended the outcomes of the 172nd Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) held in Vienna on 25/05/2017, during which the Member States agreed to extend the current production reduction agreement signed on 10/12/2016, for a period of nine months ending at the end of March 2018. The Cabinet also welcomed the accession of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to OPEC.

 The Cabinet commended the outcomes of the 2nd Ministerial Meeting between the OPEC countries and ten non-OPEC major producing countries, also endorsing the current extension agreement.

 The Cabinet stressed the Kingdom's petroleum policy in support of cooperation with the main producing countries to restore balance to the world oil markets and reduce fluctuations in the markets in a way that ensures the interests of producers and consumers alike.

 The Cabinet reaffirmed the support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the measures being taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain to maintain its security and stability and the safety of its citizens and residents, reiterating that the security and stability of the Kingdom of Bahrain is an integral part of the security and stability of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the GCC countries.

 The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom's strong condemnation of the armed attack in Alminya Governorate, Egypt. It also expressed the Kingdom's support for the measures taken by the Egyptian Government to defend its security and protect its people in accordance with the rules of international law and international covenants. The Cabinet also expressed the Kingdom's condemnation of the double suicide bombing targeting a bus station east of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta as well as the explosion in Manchester, United Kingdom, which resulted in many deaths and injuries. The Cabinet reiterated the Kingdom's solidarity with the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Indonesia and the United Kingdom against terrorism. The Cabinet also expressed the Kingdom's emphasis on the importance of concerted international efforts to eliminate the scourge of terrorism and extremism.

Dr. Al-Awad said that the Cabinet reviewed the topics on the agenda, some of which were previously reviewed by the Shura Council. The Cabient concluded the following:

 First:

 The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Economy and Planning, or his deputy, to discuss and sign with the Dutch side a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of statistics between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Kingdom of Netherlands.

 Second:

 The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Labor and Social Development, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Endowments, or his deputy, to discuss and sign a memorandum of understanding in the field of Endowments between GCC Ministries and Authorities of Endowments and Islamic and Religious Affairs.

 Third:

 The Cabinet approved an amendment to paragraph (3) of Article (5) of the Regulation of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises issued by the Cabinet Resolution No. (301) dated 11/07/1437H.

 Fourth:

 The Cabinet approved the accession of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Caribbean Community as an observer and accredited the Saudi Ambassador to Cuba as the Kingdom's representative in the meetings of the Caribbean Community.

 Fifth:

 The Cabinet approved the final accounts of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy for the fiscal years (1432/1433H - 1433/1434H - 1434/1435H - 1435/1436H).

Sixth:

 The Cabinet approved a number of promotions as follows:

 1- Saad bin Ali bin Mohammed Al Dawood promoted to the post of Security Advisor (Rank 15) at Riyadh Region Principality.

 2- Hammad bin Ghanem bin Musaiwel Al-Ruwaili promoted to the post of Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 3- Naif bin Theeb bin Naif bin Aboud promoted to the post of Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 4- Mohammed Mustafa bin Saif bin Said Saleh promoted to the post of Administrative Advisor (Rank 15) at the Islamic University in Madinah.

 5- Issa bin Abdullah bin Ali Al-Issa promoted to the post of Director General of Customs (Rank 15) at the Saudi Custom.

 6- Eng. Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Munahi Al-Otaibi promoted to the post of Computer Engineering Consultant (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Interior.

 7- Abdullah bin Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al-Ghamlas promoted to the post of Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry for Revenue Affairs (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Finance.

 8- Turki bin Fahd bin Dakhil Al-Otaibi promoted to the post of Administrative Advisor (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Finance.

 The Cabinet was also briefed on a number of general issues on its agenda, including the annual reports of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for two previous financial years. The Cabinet took decisions towards these general issues.