Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Chairs Cabinet's Virtual Session

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Prime Minister, chaired today the Cabinet's virtual session.

At the outset of the session, the Cabinet valued the speech of HRH the Crown Prince during his participation in the World Economic Forum. HRH the Crown Prince affirmed the role that the Kingdom has played and is still playing in the framework of promoting development, supporting the stability of the region, preserving the energy supply market, and working to establish security and peace. He also affirmed the role of the Kingdom in strengthening economic cooperation with partners and friends in the business community, and sharing major investment opportunities and new projects in the Kingdom within what is provided by the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

The Cabinet expressed pride in the Kingdom's achievements in the rapid transformation and reforms since the adoption of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. These achievements include doubling non-oil revenues, empowering women in the labor market, raising the level of competitiveness in the business environment, and activating the role of the Public Investment Fund and the significant improvement made in protecting the environment, and the Kingdom’s initiative approved by the G20 Leaders Summit in 2020 regarding the circular carbon economy.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the meeting, Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi, Acting Minister of Media, pointed out that the Cabinet reviewed a number of reports on the developments of coronavirus domestically and internationally as well as the latest statistics of the pandemic in the Kingdom in view of the decrease of confirmed cases, and the decrease of active and critical cases, and the expansion of the vaccination campaign against the virus with the aim of achieving herd immunity. The Cabinet also reviewed a number of reports on preventive measures and protocols taken by the concerned authorities to prevent the spread of any new mutated strains of COVID-19.

The Cabinet considered continuation of remote education for all stages until the 10th week of the second academic term as an extension of the leadership keenness on the safety of the students, and to protect them against contracting the Coronavirus, in light of the circumstances emerged due to the state provision of entire potentials to guarantee the continuity of the educational process and the successes achieved by remote education, during the past period despite the pandemic conditions.

Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi pointed out that the Cabinet reviewed a number of issues and latest events at the Arab, regional and international arenas, reiterating that the Kingdom is pushing towards achieving security and stability in the region and support political solutions in Yemen, Syria and Libya.

The Cabinet stressed the importance of reaching a just and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian cause, in accordance with the international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative and the importance of resuming negotiations between the two parties to achieve peace in the region.

The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom's strong condemnation of the terrorist Houthi militia's continuation of violating Stockholm Agreement and continue using Hodeida Governorate as a launch site for hostile acts and terrorist attacks through launching ballistic missiles and bomb-laden drones, in addition to launching attacks using remotely controlled booby-trapped boats, which constitute a real threat to regional and international security and undermining political efforts.

The Cabinet was briefed on the issues on its agenda, including some co-studied by the Shura Council. The Cabinet was also briefed on the results reached by each of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, the Council of Political and Security Affairs, the General Committee of the Cabinet, and the Bureau of Experts.

The Cabinet issued the following decisions:

First: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Communications and Information Technology Commission - or his representative - to discuss and sign a draft memorandum of cooperation between the Communications and Information Technology of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of the Arab Republic of Egypt, in the field of communications and information technology.

Second: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Education - or his representative - to discuss and sign a draft memorandum of scientific and educational cooperation between the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Republic of Guinea.

Third: The Cabinet approved to add a paragraph for the table of fees for vehicle plates of all kinds, accompanying the traffic system issued by Royal Decree No. (M / 85) dated 10/26/1428 AH.

Fourth: The Cabinet approved to continuing to pay the overtime allowance for the occupants of health jobs that are not covered by the health jobs list in hospitals, health centers and laboratories.

Fifth: The Cabinet approved the amendment of Article (4) of the organization of the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, issued by Cabinet Decision No. (301) dated 7/11/1437 AH, by adding a representative from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture to the membership of the Authority’s Board of Directors.

Seventh: The Cabinet approved the final account of the Saudi Railways Organization for the fiscal year 1439/1440 AH.

Eighth: The Cabinet approved a number of promotions at the 14th and 15th ranks.

The Cabinet was briefed on a number of issues on its agenda and took relevant recommendations.