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.
The King briefed the Cabinet on his talks with President Rustam Minnikhanov of Republic of Tatarstan, the message received from President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, the telephone call received from United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during which they reviewed historical and strategic relations between the two countries, especially in light of the identical orientations of the two countries in political, military and economic fields and ways of development of strategic relations to serve their common interests, and his meeting with the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres during which they discussed the United Nations' efforts and missions entrusted to it to achieve international peace and security.
The Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Adel bin Zaid Altoraifi said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency following the session that the Cabinet expressed its pride of the constructive role being played by the Kingdom under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in fighting terrorism and its distinguished efforts to achieve stability and peace in the region and the world, appreciating in this context the receiving of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Interior Minister ''George Tenet Medal'' for distinguished intelligence action in the field of counter-terrorism in recognition of his unlimited contributions to achieving international security and peace. The Cabinet stressed that this honoring reflects the great appreciation for the Kingdom's efforts in rejecting terrorism and condemning and denouncing it in all its forms and manifestations whatever might be its source and objectives, and as an appreciation and gratitude to the Crown Prince for his distinguished efforts in the fight against terrorism, the courage of the security forces and the cooperation of all segments of the society in fighting terrorism.
The Cabinet also lauded the comments delivered by the U.S. Secretary of State during his conversation on the phone with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques during which he expressed appreciation of the U.S. of the Saudi leadership and the Kingdom's role in its endeavor to bring about stability to the region and the importance of the role it was playing to achieve peace in the world and his assertion that the U.S. underscores the importance of working with the Kingdom in general and forging a comprehensive plan to strengthen bilateral relations in the field of military cooperation and working together against terrorism and enhancing economic relations.
The minister said the Cabinet was briefed on the outcome of the 4th meeting of the heads of Saudi Arabia's diplomatic missions abroad under the title "the ambassador's Message", stressing the contents of the speech delivered by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques as he received the minister of foreign affairs, foreign ministry's senior officials and heads of Saudi diplomatic missions abroad, including his valuable instructions, particularly his insistence that they should properly introduce the Kingdom to the world, citing its keenness that peace and stability be achieved in the world community, and highlight its approach and policies which are based on moderation and tolerance as well as its keenness on good neighborhood, co-existence among peoples of the world, rejection of violence and terrorism and the importance of looking after the needs of its people and remove whatever obstacles and difficulties they might be facing.
The Cabinet lauded the outcome of the first meeting of the Saudi Turkish Coordination Council, particularly underlining the wish of the two countries to enhance and intensify the strategic relation between themselves and their keenness to confront the challenges facing the region.
Dr. Adel bin Zaid Altoraifi said the Cabinet was also briefed on the agenda, some of which were studied by the Shura Council. The Cabinet concluded the following:

First:
The Cabinet authorized the minister of health or his deputy to discuss with the Malaysian side and the Indonesian side two separate draft memoranda of understanding on cooperation in the health fields between the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the ministry of health in each of the Federal Kingdom of Malaysia and the Republic of Indonesia, sign them and forward the final versions for completion of legal procedure.

Second:
The Cabinet authorized the minister of energy, industry and mineral resources or his deputy to discuss with the Turkish side a draft memorandum of understanding in the industrial field between the ministry of energy, industry and mineral resources of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the ministry of Science, Industry and Technology of the Turkish Republic, sign it and forward the final version for completion of legal procedure.

Third:
The Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding in the industrial field between the ministry of commerce and investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the ministry of trade of the Peoples Republic of China, which was signed in Riyadh on 9/4/1437 H.

Fourth:
The Cabinet approved memoranda of understanding between Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University and each of the Renaissance Universities League; the Mohammadis University located in the city of Malang and the government-run Islamic Al-Raniri University of Indonesia.

Fifth:
The Cabinet approved a memorandum of cooperation between the Saudi Broadcasting and Television Commission and the Turkish Broadcasting and Television Foundation, which was signed in the city of Ankara, Turkey, on 28/12/1437 H.

Sixth:
The Cabinet authorized the minister of commerce and investment, who is also chairman of the general commission for investments, or his deputy to discuss with the Jordanian side a draft agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on encouragement and mutual protection for investments, sign it and forward the final version for completion of legal procedure.

Seventh:
The Cabinet appointed Mr. Osama Jaafar Faqih; Dr. Yahya Mahmoud Junaid; Dr. Abdulrahman Suleiman Al-Muzaini, Dr. Hasan Awwad Muhanna Al-Sraihi and Yousef Abdulsattar Al-Maymani as specialist members of the council of trustees of King Abdulaziz Complex for Endowment Libraries for three years.

Eighth:
The Cabinet appointed Dr. Thuraya bint Ahmed Obaid; Dr. Saleh bin Khalaf Al-Harthi; Dr. Khalid bin Othman Al-Yahya as specialist members of the board of directors of the National Center for Developmental Strategic Studies for three years.

Ninth:
Upon recommendation of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, the Cabinet approved the legal procedures as basics for enhancing confidence in the home rent market, necessitating registering house rent contracts on the internet and stipulating the availability of house rents for issuing or renewing labor license for non-Saudis.

Tenth:
The Cabinet approved the final accounts of the Electricity and Co-generation Regulatory Authority for the fiscal year 1435/1436 H.

Eleventh:
The Cabinet approved the promotion of the following government officials:
1- Dr. Ghanem bin Saad bin Dakheel Al-Ghanem as undersecretary of the ministry of education for scholarship affairs (15th rank)
2- Shafi bin Ali bin Ayedh Al-Jahdari to the position of director general of administrative and financial affairs at the ministry of education (15th rank)
3- Jamal bin Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Saleh Rafa to the position of ambassador at the foreign ministry
4- Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Ghimaijan to the position of assistant undersecretary of the ministry of Islamic affairs, call and endowment for Call affairs (14th rank)
The Cabinet also approved the promotion of the following foreign ministry officials each to the level of minister plenipotentiary:
- Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Othman Al-Shigairan
- Abdullah bin Safar bin Ahmed Asidan
- Muhareb bin Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman Al-Muhareb
The Cabinet was briefed on a number of issues on its agenda, including the annual report of the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection for a previous year and was briefed on the outcome of the meeting of the financial and economic cooperation committee, an affiliate of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Cabinet issued relevant instructions on them.