Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, chaired the cabinet session at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah on Tuesday afternoon.
At the outset of the session, the King briefed the cabinet on the results of his meetings with President Isaias Afwerki of the State of Eritrea and Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali to sign Jeddah Peace Agreement between the Republic of Ethiopia and the State of Eritrea.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques expressed his congratulations to the two countries on this achievement and hoped that the signing of the agreement would be a strong basis for closer cooperation and friendship between them, achieving security and stability for them and would positively affect the security and stability of the region.
The king also congratulated the two states of Djibouti and Eritrea on their historic meeting in Jeddah which came in response to his invitation, wishing the two countries further security, prosperity and stability.
The king briefed the cabinet on the results of his talks with President Ismail Omar Guelleh of the Republic of Djibouti, the message received from the President of the Republic of the Gambia Adama Barrow, and meeting with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Minister of Media Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that the cabinet then discussed a number of reports on latest developments in the region and the world and welcomed the signing of Jeddah Peace Agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense; United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates.
The cabinet assured that the signing of the agreement, which was adopted after the efforts of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH Crown Prince several months ago, emanated from deep-rooted relations between the Kingdom and the two countries and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's keenness to end the conflict that lasted more than twenty years so that peace and stability prevail between the two countries. The Cabinet also praised the efforts and the leading roles of the two countries' leaders to restore relations between them to establish a new stage that will witness a great development in relations and further cooperation in various fields.
The cabinet congratulated the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH Crown Prince on the success of these efforts which resulted in the signing of the Jeddah Peace Agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea and the historic meeting between Djibouti and Eritrea after ten years of severed relations to open a new chapter in the relations between the two countries, which embodies the Kingdom's keenness and care to achieve peace and stability in the region.
The minister said that the cabinet praised the resolutions of the 150th ordinary session of the Arab League's Council at the level of foreign ministers held in Cairo, and the statement issued by the Arab Quartet Ministerial Committee held on the sidelines of the 150th session of the Arab League's Council, on the follow-up of the crisis with Iran and ways to address its interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries.
In the same context, the cabinet stressed that terrorism being practiced by Iran through its blatant interference in Arab affairs and its support for terrorist militias is one of the most appalling manifestations of terrorism, which needs unification and cooperation to confront and deter its tools, reiterating that the Kingdom has made efforts to combat terrorism and has not hesitated to provide all kinds of support with cooperation of the international community to eradicate this plague.
The cabinet expressed the Kingdom's strong condemnation and denunciation of the suicide bombings that took place north of Tikrit in Iraq, the Somali capital of Mogadishu and Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan, expressing its condolences to the families of the victims, the governments and peoples of Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan, wishing the injured a speedy recovery, reaffirming the Kingdom's firm position of rejecting all forms of violence, terrorism and extremism.
Dr. Al-Awwad said that the Cabinet was briefed on topics listed on its agenda and decided the following:
First: the cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding in the health sector between the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Health of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
A royal decree has been prepared for this purpose.
Second: the cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding in the field of customs cooperation between the Ministry of Finance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Iraq.
A royal decree has been prepared for this purpose.
Third: the cabinet authorized the minister of transport, who is the chairman of the Board of Directors of General Authority of Civil Aviation - or his deputy - to discuss with the Korean side a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of airports between the General Authority of Civil Aviation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea, to sign it and then submit the final signed version to complete the formal procedures.
Fourth: the cabinet approved appointing Hamad bin Ali Al-Shuaieer; Ihsan bin Abbas Bafaqih and Saeed bin Mohammed Al-Ghamdi as members of the private sector related to the activities of the Public Real Estate Authority's Board of Directors for a three year term.
Fifth: the cabinet authorized the minister to extend the service of a physician consultant after reaching the age specified in Article (15) of the civil retirement regulation issued by Royal Decree No. M / 41 dated 29/7/9393 until the age of 70 years.
A royal decree has been prepared in this regard.
Sixth: the cabinet decided that the Government shall bear the fine imposed on the employer if it was proved that the delay in renewing the worker's residence permit was due to the government's delay in paying the employer's dues and the worker was working on the same project. The cabinet authorized the Minister of Finance to complete necessary procedures in this regard.
Seventh: the cabinet approved paying social security beneficiaries the costs of rational consumption of water, where the payment shall be disbursed monthly and according to the procedure used to pay electricity bills.
Eighth: the cabinet approved amendments of a number of regulations, on various issues.
Ninth: the cabinet approved promotions to ranks 15 and 14, as follows:
- Hussein bin Shawish bin Hussein Al-Shawish to the post of Economic Consultant, 15th rank, at the Ministry of Finance.
- Abdullah bin Saleh bin Abdulrahman Al-Arifi to the post of Administrative Consultant, 15th rank, at the Ministry of Finance.
- Ali bin Abdullah bin Saad Al-Hamda to the post of Economic Consultant, 15th rank, at the Ministry of Finance.
- Abdulrahman bin Rashid bin Mohammed Al-Hamad to the post of Planning Consultant, 15th rank, at the Ministry of Economy and Planning.
- Eng. Fahad bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Nuwaiser to the post of Projects' Consultant, 15th rank, at the Saudi Fund for Development.
- Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Mahanna Al-Mahanna to the post of Administrative Consultant, 14th rank, at the Public Security.
- Abdullah bin Ibrahim bin Hussein Al-Gosaibi to the post of Director General of Income Control, 14th rank, at the Ministry of Finance.
- Mohammed bin Abdul Karim bin Mohammed Al-Abdul Karim to the post of Financial Consultant, 14th rank, at the Ministry of Finance.
- Saad bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz Al-migbil to the post of Director General of Government Printing Press, 14th rank, at the Ministry of Finance.
- Abdulrahman bin Abdullah bin Fadhl Al-Dufas to the post of Head of Sector, 14th rank, at the Ministry of Finance.
The cabinet was also briefed on a number of fiscal previous reports related to several ministries and organizations and took appropriate recommendations.