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 Tuesday afternoon.

At the outset of the session, the King briefed the Cabinet on the results of his meeting with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bahrain, his talks with President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo Mohamed of Republic of Somalia, and his meetings with Sheikh Lieutenant General Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of United Arab Emirates, and Member of the British Parliament from the Conservative Party Leo Docherty.

The King expressed his looking forward that his visit to the Russian Federation and talks with President Vladimir Putin and Russian officials will achieve the aspirations of the two countries to enhance and develop bilateral relations in all fields in the service of common interests and efforts to achieve the international peace and security.

The Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency following the session that the Cabinet expressed its thanks and appreciation to the King for the issuance of the royal order to apply the traffic system and its executive regulations, including issuing driving licenses for males and females, and for the order stating that the State is the guardian of Sharia s values and considering maintaining and taking care of them on the top of the list of its priorities in this matter or others, and that the implementation will be in accordance with religious and approved regulations.

The Cabinet commended the King s inauguration of new Taif projects whose costs estimated at SR 11 billion, stressing the contents of the King s speech on the enjoyment of the Kingdom and its people with blessings including the presence of wealth, security and stability and his directive to citizens that the doors are open and ears listen for every citizen who sees that there is an interest to the religion above all and the country of the Two Holy Mosques to which we are all servants.
The Cabinet welcomed the announcement made by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) on establishing of Al Haram Rou'a Company and Al Madinah Rou'a Company in line with the Kingdom's vision 2030 in order to develop projects that contribute to upgrading the accommodating capacity for hosting the increasing numbers of visitors to the Kingdom to perform Hajj and Umrah rituals.
The Cabinet lauded the announcement made by the Public Investment Fund on redevelopment of the waterfront in the center of Corniche of Jeddah City with an investment estimated at SR 18 billion over 10 years aiming at transforming it into a vital area and a unique tourist, residential and commercial destination to become one of the top 100 cities over the world.
The Minister said that Cabinet reviewed the meetings of the Kingdom's delegation with the representatives of Russian, American, Japanese and South Korean delegations on the sidelines of the 61st General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna to discuss the options for implementing the National Atomic Energy Project in the Kingdom and ways of cooperation to support the project, especially with regard to the feasibility study of the initial technical aspects of engineering designs FEED to build the first two reactors in the Kingdom.
The Cabinet renewed the Kingdom's strong condemnation of terrorist bombings in Bahraini capital of Manama, Somali capital of Mogadishu, Afghan capital of Kabul and the province of Kandahar in Afghanistan, the attacks that took place in the city of Marseille in southern France and the city of Edmonton in western Canada, and the shooting incident in Las Vegas, United States of America, offering its condolences to the families of the victims and wishes of a speedy recovery for the injured, stressing the Kingdom's solidarity and standing with sisterly and friendly countries against the practices of violence, extremism, terrorism and instigation for them.
The Cabinet welcomed the accession of the State of Palestine to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) after voting of 74 countries for the resolution in the meetings of the General Assembly in Beijing, considering it as a political achievement and success for the Palestinian struggle and the joint Arab action to strengthen the status and role of Palestine at the international arena.
Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad said that the Council of Ministers has reviewed the topics on its agenda, including some which have been co-seen by the Shura Council earlier. The Council took the following decisions:
First:
The Cabinet approved a security cooperation agreement between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of the Republic of Niger, signed in Riyadh on 10/4/1438 H.
Second:
The Cabinet approved a security cooperation arrangement in the field of crime combating between the Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia.
Third:
The Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding in the field of Islamic affairs between the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, signed on 2/6/1438 H.
Fourth:
The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or his deputy, to discuss with the Zambian side a draft memorandum of understanding on the political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zambia.
Fifth:
The Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding on political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, signed in the city of Astana on 20/7/1437 H.
Sixth:
The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Education, or his deputy, to discuss with the Maltese side a draft memorandum on scientific and educational cooperation between the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Education and Employment of the Republic of Malta.
Seventh:
The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Labor and Social Development, or his deputy, to discuss with the Malaysian side a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of social development between the Ministry of Labor and Social Development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development of the Kingdom of the Federation of Malaysia, sign it and forward the final version to complete formal procedures.
Eighth:
The Cabinet authorized the President of the Tourism and National Heritage authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or his deputy to discuss with the Russian side a draft memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of tourism between the Saudi authority for Tourism and National Heritage and the Federal Commission for Tourism of Federal Russia, sign it and forward the final version for further authentication.
Ninth:
The Cabinet approved an annex of a memorandum of understanding concluded between the General Commission for Sports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan in the field of sports, which was signed in Tokyo on 15/6/1438H.
Tenth:
The Cabinet authorized the General Prosecutor or his deputy to discuss with the Russian side a draft memorandum of understanding between the General Prosecution of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the General Prosecution of the Federal Russia, sign it and forward the final version for further authentication.
Eleventh:
The Cabinet approved the establishment of an independent center titled "National Center for Electronic Education.
Twelfth:
The Cabinet approved the final account of King Fahd National Library for the fiscal year 1435/1436 H.
Thirteenth:
The Cabinet approved the final account of the Public Commission for Tourism and National Heritage for fiscal year 1436/1437 H.
Fourteenth:
The Cabinet approved two final accounts of Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) and Small and Medium Enterprises Financing Program for fiscal year 1436/1437 H.
Fifteenth:
The Cabinet approved a reformation of the Appeal Committee on Securities Disputes for three years as follows:
1. Adviser / Niga bin Khaled Al-Otaibi, representative of Bureau of Experts of the Cabinet, as Chairman
2. Adviser / Abdullah bin Abdurrahman Al-Sohaibani, representative of the Finance Ministry, as Member
3. Adviser / Bader bin Abdulmohsen Al-Hadab, representative of Commerce and Investment Ministry, as Member
4. Adviser / Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al Rasheed, representative of Bureau of Experts of the Cabinet, as Alternate Member
5. Adviser / Mohammed bin Abdulmohsen Al-Osaimi, representative of the Finance Ministry, as Alternate Member
6. Abdulaziz bin Saud Al-Duhaim, representative of Commerce and Investment Ministry, as Alternate Member
Sixteenth:
The Cabinet approved two promotions and one appointment as follows:
1. Dr. Abdulqader bin Othman Abdulqader Ameer is promoted to the post of Undersecretary for Technical Affairs (rank 15) at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.
2. Dr. Ibrahim bin Mohammed bin Abdulhadi Al-Shafi is appointed to the post of Undersecretary for Social Security Affairs (rank 15) at the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.
3. Ibrahim bin Suleiman bin Ibrahim Al-Darwish is promoted to the post of Financial Adviser (rank 14) at the Ministry of Finance.
The Cabinet was briefed on a number of other general items on its agenda, including the two annual reports of the Social Development Bank (SDB) and the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) for a previous fiscal year, and took relevant instructions.