Riyadh - SPA

Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, chaired a session of the Cabinet Monday afternoon at Al-Yamamah Palace.

The Cabinet discussed topics related to the course of events at Arab, regional and international arenas, wishing success to leaders of the Arab countries at their 24th Arab Summit which will start tomorrow in Doha.

The Cabinet welcomed the decisions of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva which condemned the Israeli occupation authorities and their practices against the brotherly Palestinian people, reiterating Saudi Arabia positions that called for cessation of Israeli settlement projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Cabinet expressed satisfaction towards the Global Rating Agency (Fitch)  report on the Kingdom's economy and its AA sovereign classification. The report reinforces confidence in the strength of the national economy, its sustainability of growth, and the diversity of its sectors.

The Cabinet commended Jeddah Economic Forum 2013, entitled 'Housing and Population Growth'.

The Cabinet issued the following decisions:

Firstly:

Transfer of Civil Aviation from the Ministry of Defense to the General Authority for Civil Aviation.

Secondly:

-A Saudi ID is mandatory fifteen years old citizens and optional for citizens ranging from ten and fifteen years of age depending on approval of his guardian.

- A Saudi ID is mandatory for Saudi women with a gradual 7 year plan

Thirdly:

A scholarship student who is accompanied by his Saudi wife at the place of his study shall be given an extra payment equals to his basic monthly payment if she does not join the scholarship. The same extra payment shall be given to a scholarship student who is accompanied by his non-Saudi wife at the place of his study and to a female scholarship student who is accompanied by her non-Saudi husband at the place of her study if the marriage took place according to the statutory procedures.

Fourthly:

In order to boost Saudization the cabinet decided:

One or more committees shall be formed by Minister of Labor to consider  the following:
1- Recommend penalty against violators of Saudization
2- Propose amendment of  Saudization  percentage
3- Recommend new jobs and professions that should be exclusively occupied by Saudi nationals.
4- Formulating a media plan to cope with the implementation of the decisions of Saudization in coordination with the Ministry of Culture and Information.
The recommendations of this committee shall be approved by Minister of Labor.