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

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Prime Minister, chaired the Cabinet's virtual session.
At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the message he received from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques also briefed the Cabinet on the phone calls with President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China, Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India, which addressed the actions and efforts of the G20 to confront the effects of Coronavirus pandemic. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques affirmed the Kingdom's keenness on working with the G20 countries to serve the peoples, support the global economy and mitigate the consequences of the pandemic.
The Cabinet commended the speech of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques delivered at the L20 Summit. The speech reiterated that the utmost current priority is overcoming the pandemic and its health, social and economic impacts; the efforts in the G20 this year are focused on several key areas, the most important of which is international collaboration in developing vaccines for COVID-19, ensuring equitable and fair access to vaccines for everyone while taking into account the needs of low income countries; and safeguarding lives and livelihood is at the top of priorities of G20 leaders.
The Cabinet reviewed a number of reports on the developments of Coronavirus pandemic at local and international levels. The Cabinet also addressed the draft resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly to coordinate a practical global response to combat COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Acting Minister of Information Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi commended the Kingdom's achievement of the first rank among the G20 member states in terms of competitiveness during the last three years according to the World Competitiveness Report issued by the European Center for Digital Competitiveness, attributing this achievement to the support given by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH the Crown Prince to the communications and information technology sector over the past years. This achievement reflects the qualitative leaps the Kingdom has made in terms of digital infrastructure, digital capacity development, and mega digital projects; and reflects the maturity of digital regulations derived from the Kingdom's Vision 2030.
 

The Cabinet reviewed the latest developments regionally and internationally, including the 154th Session of Arab League Council at the Level of Foreign Ministers which addressed security, political and social developments in the Arab world. The Cabinet highlighted the Kingdom's keenness on the unity, sovereignty and integrity of Arab territories; its rejection of any threat that destabilizes the region; and its support for the Palestinian people and all efforts aimed at reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause that enables the Palestinian people to establish their independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with international legitimacy decisions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi stated that the Cabinet expressed the Kingdom's condemnation of the hostile and terrorist escalation by the terrorist Houthi militia targeting civilians and civilian objects in the Kingdom with ballistic missiles and bomb-laden drones in a systematic and deliberate manner. The Cabinet praised the Joint Forces of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen for confronting these threats and taking all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian objects in addition to taking necessary operational measures to stop these terrorist acts in accordance with the international humanitarian law and its customary rules.

The Cabinet reiterated the Kingdom's strong condemnation and denunciation of bombing the convoy of the Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Kabul, which resulted in a number of deaths and injuries. The Cabinet affirmed the Kingdom's solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan against all forms of violence, terrorism and extremism, offering condolences to the families of the victims, the Government and people of Afghanistan, and wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

The Cabinet issued the following decisions:

First: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Energy - or his deputy - to discuss and sign with the Mauritanian side a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in electricity and renewable energy sector between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

Second: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Interior - or his deputy - to discuss and sign with the Tanzanian side a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of civil defense and civil protection between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Federal Republic of Tanzania.

Third: The Cabinet authorized the acting Secretary General of King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives - or his deputy - to discuss and sign with the Moroccan side a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Morocco Archives of Morocco.

Fourth: The Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding in the field of documentation and archiving between the National Center for Documentation and Archives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the National Archives Foundation of the Republic of Tunisia.

Fifth: The Cabinet approved the establishment of Red Sea Tourism Authority.

Sixth: The Cabinet approved the organization of Tourism Development Council.

Seventh: The Cabinet approved the unified Saudi classification for educational levels and specializations.

Eighth: The Cabinet approved amendment to Paragraph (1) of Item (First) of Cabinet Decision No. (259) dated 01/09/1429H, pertaining to the 'End of Service Reward' being paid to those who complete 20 years of service in higher education sector.

Ninth: The Cabinet renewed membership of Eng. Rayan bin Mohammed bin Hamid Fayez as representative of the private sector, and appointed Dr. Mohammed bin Saud Al-Badr and Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Amoudi as members representing the private sector at the Board of Directors of the Human Resources Development Fund.

Tenth: The Cabinet approved the final account of the Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) for the fiscal year 1439/1440H.

Eleventh: The Cabinet approved the national strategy for cyber security.

Twelfth: The Cabinet approved a number of promotions.