Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, chaired a cabinet's session held at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah on Tuesday evening.
At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the cabinet on the contents of a telephone call he made to President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China. The telephone conversation dealt with the strategic relations and aspects of cooperation between the two countries in addition to the latest developments at the regional and international arenas.
In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Turki bin Abdullah Al-Shabanah, Minister of Media, said that the cabinet hailed the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, to provide a sum of SAR50 million, to rehabilitate 56 ramshackle buildings in Historic Jeddah, as the first phase, to be implemented by Saudi nationals. HRH Crown Prince's support aims to back up projects that would maintain ancient historical and cultural features of the kingdom as well as historic Jeddah.
Regarding the recent terrorist attacks on the East-West oil pipeline as well as that on the commercial tankers in the Arabian Gulf, the Cabinet affirmed that these acts of terrorism and sabotage against vital institutions, including the attacks against two pump stations on the East-West pipeline which transports Saudi oil from the Eastern Province to Yanbu port in addition to the recent attack in the Arabian Gulf, do not only target the Kingdom but also the security of world oil supplies and the global economy, affirming the importance of confronting terrorist entities who carry out such sabotage acts, including Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.
The minister stated that the cabinet has reiterated the kingdom's denunciation of the subversive acts that targeted civil commercial vessels last Sunday near the regional waters of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Gulf of Oman, confirming at the same time that this terrorist attack which targeted two Saudi oil tankers while on their way to cross the Arab Gulf in the economic waters of the UAE, constitutes a flagrant threat on the security and safety of the maritime navigation traffic, negatively reflected on the regional and international peace and security.
He also affirmed the common responsibility of the world community in preserving the safety of sea navigation and security of oil tankers to ward off the negative impacts that would throw their shadows on the energy markets and jeopardize the world economy.
The cabinet valued high the efforts being exerted by the authorities concerned enabling them to launch a pre-emptive operation to wipe out an eight-member terror cell which was recently composed to launch terrorist operations targeting vital facilities and security sites so that the threat they pose will be marginalized, and the lives of other people who happen to be around the site will be preserved.
The cabinet, then, issued the following decisions:
First: the minister of interior, or his deputy, was authorized to discuss with the Mexican side a draft agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the United States of Mexico, on extraditing those wanted by any of the two sides, sign it and forward the final version for further authentication.
Second: the cabinet approved that the Ministry of Justice would discuss with the US Bar Association a draft memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Justice of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the US Bar Association on cooperation in the justice fields and sign it.
Third: the cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding in the field of Islamic affairs between the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Traditional Education of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
Fourth: the cabinet authorized the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or his deputy, to sign a draft unified agreement in the diplomatic and consular fields of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Fifth: the cabinet approved two memorandums of understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the United Arab Emirates in the fields of science and education and the field of media.
Sixth: the cabinet approved the Privileged Iqama (residence) System.
Seventh: the cabinet approved the participation of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) as member of the Advisory Committee of the Investment and Entrepreneurship Council and naming the Governor of SAGIA as member of that committee.
Eighth: the cabinet approved the appointment of Eng. Sameer bin Ali Al Abdurabu and Dr. Hatim bin Dhakhail bin Abdurrahman Al-Dhakhail, as representatives of the private sector, in the board of directors of the National Center for Research and Development of Sustainable Agriculture (ESTDAMA) for a period of three years.
Ninth: the cabinet approved an addition of a provision labelled No. 3 to Article 8 of the regulations relating to the sale or lease of real estate units on the map.
Tenth: the cabinet approved an organizational structure and guidebook of the Ministry of Civil Service.
Eleventh: the cabinet approved a final account of the General Authority for Statistics for a previous fiscal year.
Twelfth: the cabinet approved a number of promotions to 14th rank as follows:
1- Eng. Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Attiyah Al-Ghamdi is promoted to the post of Assistant Undersecretary for Reconstruction and Projects (rank 14) at Jeddah Principality.
2- Ahmad bin Saeed bin Nasser Al-Biahi is promoted to the post of Director General of the External Media's Branch in Jeddah (rank 14) at the Ministry of media.
3- Muqbil bin Turki bin Abdurrahman Al-Muqbil is promoted to the post of Assistant Secretary General of the Foundation (rank 14) at King Abdulaziz Foundation.
The cabinet was briefed on a number of general issues on its agenda, including annual reports of Saudi Geological Survey; General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT); Public Pension Agency (PPA) and Saudi Fund for Development; for a previous fiscal year, and instructed appropriate recommendations in their regard.