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 Tuesday afternoon.
At the outset of the session, the King briefed the Cabinet on the contents of written messages sent to King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt, President Ismail Omar Guelleh of the Republic of Djibouti, and President Mohamed Abdullah Farmajo of the Federal Republic of Somalia, and the results of his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander in Chief of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, during which they reviewed deep-rooted brotherly relations between the two sisterly countries and latest developments in the region.
The King also briefed the Cabinet on the results of his talks with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, during which they discussed ways of enhancing and developing bilateral relations to serve the interests of the two countries and their peoples, and the signing of a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding in various fields within the framework of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council.
The Minister of Media Turki bin Abdullah Al-Shabanah said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session that the Cabinet praised the visit and talks between the two countries, their keenness on historical, religious and social relations between them, and the importance of investing this political, historical and religious heritage and promoting relations in line with the directives of the leaderships of the two countries.
The Cabinet renewed the Kingdom's welcome of hosting of the 15th Session of the Meetings of Leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) in the month of Rabi' II 1442 AH, corresponding to November 2020 in Riyadh, under the chairmanship of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and its looking forward to strengthening cooperation with its partners of member countries to achieve the objectives of the Group and to find international consensus on economic issues on the agenda to achieve the stability of the world economy and its prosperity and contribute to reviewing the issues of concern to the Middle East and North Africa.
The Cabinet commended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for offering a joint package of assistance to the Republic of Sudan worth USD 3 billion, including USD 500 million worth of a deposit to the Sudan Central Bank to strengthen its financial position as the two donors were doing what they perceive as a sense of duty towards Sudanese people based on the constructive cooperation and support for the brotherly Republic of Sudan.
The Minister of Media said that the Cabinet has closely followed the developments in the oil markets following the recent statement issued by the US administration on sanctions imposed on Iranian oil exports, reiterating the Kingdom's keenness to pursue its well-established policy, through which it seeks to achieve stability in the oil markets and keep the market balanced, to the interests of producers and consumers alike, as well as the stability and growth of the world economy.
The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom's welcome and support for the move taken by the United States of America to coerce the Iranian regime halt its destabilizing policies, in support and sponsorship of terrorism around the world, stressing the firm position of the Kingdom on the need to continue its international efforts to compel the Iranian regime abide by the principles of international law and stop its blatant interference in the internal affairs of other countries and its support for terrorism and its activities, which led to chaos and devastation of many countries.
The Cabinet noted the statement issued by the extraordinary Arab Foreign Ministers meeting allocated for discussing the "Developments of the Palestinian Issue: the political track and the financial crisis", as well as the latest developments of the situation related to the Palestinian cause.
The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom's condemnation and denunciation of a series of terrorist bombings, citing the ones that took place in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Somalia and Afghanistan, reaffirming the Kingdom's solidarity with brotherly and friendly countries against all acts of violence, terrorism and extremism and the need for concerted international efforts to eliminate terrorism that threatens security and stability in all parts of the world without exception.
The Council expressed its appreciation and thanks to the efforts of the security forces headed by the State Security and enabled it to thwart the terrorist act that targeted the Zulfi Investigation Center and the killing of all terrorists who adopt the lost ideology and belong to the organization of the terrorist "Da'ash", the seizure of weapons and explosive materials, the arrangements to carry out criminal acts aimed at the security of the country and its capabilities and the capture of its terrorist elements, that are working on executing agendas for suspicious entities that do not wish the good of this country and its people, and thwart their criminal schemes in order to preserve the security of the country and the people and defeat all those who aim to harm the security of the homeland and its gains from rogue terrorists .
The Council of Ministers issued the following decisions:
First :
The Council of Ministers decided to authorize the Minister of the Interior - or his deputy - to discuss with the Benin side a draft security cooperation agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Benin.
Second :
The Council of Ministers decided to authorize the Minister of Transport and the Chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation - or his deputy - to sign a draft agreement between the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Senegal in the field of air transport services.
Third :
Having reviewing that presented by Minister of Economy and Planning, Member and Coordinator of the Saudi side in the Saudi-UAE Coordination Council, having reviewed the decision of the Shura Council No. (100/27) dated 4/7/1440 AH, the Cabinet decided to approve a memorandum of understanding between the Government of Saudi Arabia And the Government of the United Arab Emirates in the field of tourism and national heritage.
A royal decree has been prepared.
Fourth:
The Cabinet approved a memorandum for scientific and educational cooperation between the Education Ministry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Education and Employment Ministry of the Republic of Malta.
Fifth:
The Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding between the General Sport Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and New Zealand's Sport Association for cooperation in the field of enhancing the physical activities and sports participation.
Sixth:
The Cabinet amended the formation of the Health Insurance Council mentioned in the article 4 of the Cooperative Health Insurance System.
Seventh:
The Cabinet approved the continuation of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers (TAQEEM) for a three-year term.
Eighth:
The Cabinet approved the National Strategy for Statistics' Development.
Ninth:
The Cabinet approved continuation of disbursing Nature of Work Allowance at a rate not to exceed 20 per cent of the first payment of the scale, for those who are practicing controlling tasks, at the General Auditing Bureau, for a five -Year term, in accordance with attached safeguards of the Civil Service Council decision.
Tenth:
The Cabinet approved promotions to Rank 14, as follows:
1 - Badr bin Saad bin Saud Al-Tuwaim to the post of Assistant Undersecretary for Development Affairs, at the Principality of Riyadh Region.
2 - Mansur bin Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Oudah Al-Saawi to the post of Administrative Counselor, at the Ministry of Finance.
3 - Ahmed bin Ibrahim bin Ahmed Al-Saeigh to the post of Revenues' Counselor, at the Ministry of Finance.
The Cabinet reviewed also a number of issues on its agenda and took appropriate recommendations, in their regard.