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 the Cabinet's virtual session on Tuesday.

At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques was assured about completion of preparations of arrangements of the agencies concerned with serving pilgrims to provide the highest level of care for them during the Hajj season this year and to make sure they perform the rituals in a safe and healthy environment. The agencies will provide pilgrims with all means of comfort and ensure their security and safety from the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the content of his official talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of the Sultanate of Oman, who paid an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The official talks included discussing aspects of joint cooperation and ways to enhance and develop them, praising the cooperation and coordination achieved contributing to strengthening security and stability for the two brotherly countries, including the signing of a memorandum to establish the Saudi-Omani Coordination Council. Furthermore, concluding a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding in various fields, raising the economic cooperation by stimulating the public and private sectors to reach qualitative trade and investment exchanges that contribute to achieving the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and Oman Vision 2040, and emphasizing the strengthening of cooperation in the areas of environment, food security and the Green Middle East Initiative due to its benefit at local, regional and global levels.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on behalf of the Acting Minister of Media, the Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Dr. Issam bin Saad bin Saeed said that the Cabinet addressed the statement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the conclusion of the Article 4 consultations, emphasizing the continued recovery of the Saudi economy and praising its outstanding success in several aspects, during the most difficult year on the whole world in view of the repercussions of the COVID-19 Pandemic, fluctuations in oil prices, a decline of its global demand and a slowdown in growth, which reflects the prominent role of the economic and structural reforms carried out within the framework of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and its contribution to achieving sustainable and comprehensive economic growth.

The Cabinet considered that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wining the chairmanship of the Executive Council of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), as an continuation of its pivotal and role, and its keenness to achieve the goals of the organization.

The Cabinet reviewed the latest developments in regionally and globally, reiterating the Kingdom's support to Egypt and Sudan to preserve their legitimate rights, and calling on the international community to find a clear mechanism to start negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to find a solution for this crisis in order to achieve the interests of the Nile river basin countries, under international auspices and in agreement with the African Union and the Arab League.

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

The Cabinet issued the following decisions:

First:

The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Interior, or his deputy, to discuss and sign a draft memorandum of understanding in the field of civil protection and civil defense between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Italy.

The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or his deputy, to discuss and sign a draft memorandum of understanding regarding political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya.

Third:

The Cabinet approved a general agreement on cooperation between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Chad.

Fourth:

The Cabinet the Minister of Culture, or his deputy, to discuss and sign a draft memorandum of understanding in the field of culture between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Italy.

Fifth:

The Cabinet authorized Acting Minister of Media, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Broadcasting Authority to discuss and sign a memorandum of understanding in the field for cooperation in the radio and television field between the Saudi Broadcasting Authority of the and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, within the framework of the Saudi-Zambian Joint Committee.

Sixth:

The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, or his deputy, to discuss and sign a draft memorandum of understanding in the field of plant quarantine and plant protection between the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the and the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Seventh:

The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Investment, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Special Economic Cities and Zones Authority, or his deputy, to discuss and sign a draft memorandum of understanding between the Special Economic Cities and Zones Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its counterpart in other countries.

Eighth:

The Cabinet approved of converting the General Syndicate of Car into a company.

Ninth:

The Supervisory Committee for the Privatization of the Environment, Water and Agriculture Sector may contract with a company (or companies) to implement the Ja’arana project for strategic storage in Makkah region.

Tenth:

The Cabinet approved the implementation of the decision of the Supreme Council of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf - issued in its (forty-first) session held in Al-Ula - to adopt an agreement on linking payment systems between the countries of the GCC.

Eleventh:

The Cabinet appointed two members to the Board of Directors of the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority, as representatives from the private sector.

Twelfth:

The Cabinet approved of two promotions at the 14 and 15 ranks.

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