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 expressed thanks and gratitude to Allah for His abundant blessings and for what the Kingdom is witnessing - as it celebrates its ninetieth national day this year - of bolstering reform and development programs in various fields and the security and prosperity that citizens and expatriates enjoy with its adherence to its constants derived from the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of His Messenger since its foundation at the hands of King Abdulaziz bin Abdurrahman Al Saud and as his righteous sons continued after him. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques pointed out to the Kingdom’s position at regional and international arenas, the solid global confidence it enjoys in all platforms, its presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) for this year 2020, its relentless pursuit to serve the issues of the Arab and Islamic nations, the construction of the Two Holy Mosques and the historic transformation in light of Kingdom's Vision 2030.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques expressed his appreciation for the feelings of compassion, love and loyalty of the people of the Kingdom to their homeland that embody the national unity, praying to Allah to perpetuate the goodness, safety and stability enjoyed by all, so that this country remains proud and strong.
In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Acting Minister of Media Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi pointed out that the Cabinet reviewed a set of reports related to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and its developments at local and international levels, particularly with regard to the preventive and therapeutic aspects, and the latest results of studies on potential vaccines to prevent the virus as well as the latest statistics of cases reported in the Kingdom, which indicated continuing curve of decrease in cases, and significant increase in recovery from the virus. The Cabinet indicated that the Kingdom has provided to the UN response plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and its support for the World Health Organization, and a number of projects supported by various UN organizations and agencies, affirming that this support came within the Kingdom's efforts as well as its awareness of the importance of cooperation, solidarity and collective and international action to foster a transparent, solid and coordinated global response.
 

The Cabinet reviewed the latest regional and international developments, including the statement issued by the ministerial group on Yemen, including the United States, China, France, Russia, Germany, Kuwait, Sweden and the European Union, in which it expressed its concern about Houthi attack against Ma'rib, which undermines the international efforts being led by United Nations to end the crisis through a political solution based on the three references and further exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The Cabinet reaffirmed the importance of any nuclear agreement with Iran contributing to maintaining nuclear non-proliferation and the completion of efforts aimed at creating a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. The Cabinet affirmed the importance of confronting Iran's destabilizing behavior in the region and the world as well as its sponsorship of terrorism in order to ensure that it does not carry out any kind of provocations in the future, which will reintegrate it into the international community and lift all sanctions from it for the sake of the interest and welfare of the Iranian people.

The Cabinet reviewed the Kingdom’s great attention and follow-up to the Myanmar issue and the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities across Myanmar in addition to the Kingdom’s call during the 45th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, for the international community to urgently move to stop the violence and give the Rohingya minority their rights, and to intensify efforts to solve this crisis, and create circumstances for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of all the displaced.

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 Interior - or his deputy - to discuss and sign with the Mauritanian 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 Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

Second: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture - or his deputy - to discuss and sign with the Indonesian side a draft memorandum of understanding in the field of agriculture between the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia.

Third: The Cabinet approved the organization of the General Commission for Survey and Geospatial Information. The Cabinet also approved that the military survey is moved from the General Commission for Survey to the Ministry of Defense in order to be within the organizational structure of the Ministry.

Fourth: The Cabinet approved the document of the partnership project between the public and private sectors in operating hospitals and establishing medical cities (Al-Ansar Hospital in Madinah), and the operational programme for the privatization project of Al-Ansar Hospital in Madinah, and the contractual frameworks.

Fifth: The Cabinet approved the regulations for transferring students abroad to study within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as stated in the decision.

Sixth: The Cabinet approved the organization of the Ministry of Sports.

Seventh: The Cabinet approved the organization of the Ministry of Tourism.

Eighth: The Cabinet approved a number of promotions.

The Cabinet was briefed on a number of issues on its agenda, including an annual report of the Alimony Fund, the Cabinet took relevant recommendations.