Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, chaired at Al-Safa palace, a cabinet's session.
At the outset of the meeting, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques praised and thanked Allah of his grace accorded to Muslims, all over the world, for enjoying those last ten days and nights of the blessed month of Ramadan.
The king also prayed that may the Al-Mighty accept the fasting and prayers as well as the good deeds by those who have come to Makkah and Madinah, to perform either Umarah (minor Hajj) or pay visit to the Prophet's mosque.
Then, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques welcomed the leaders and representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab countries and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, in addition to other participants, scheduled to take part in the next coming three summits set to take place, in Makkah, on the 30th and 31st of May, supplicating to Allah to bless the efforts exerted, to make them a success, for the goodness of the Arab and Muslim nations.
On the other hand, Minister of Media Turki bin Abdullah Al-Shabanah pointed out in a statement to the Saudi Press (SPA), that the cabinet wished the leaders taking part, in the two emergency summits of the GCC and Arab countries called to convene by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, every success. Furthermore, he prayed to Allah that the endeavors being exerted by the leaders of the OIC member states, in their 14th ordinary summit, that follows, be blessed by Allah to overcome all challenges facing the Arab and Muslim countries, close their ranks and strengthen their stances towards the issues being dealt with.
The cabinet also welcomed the opening of the international conference on "Moderation and Mediocrity derived from the texts of the Quran and Sunnah" and the document of "Makkah Declartation" organized by the Muslim World League under the auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
On the other hand, the cabinet praised the kingdom's proceeding among the most competitive countries, on the Annual Book of the World Competitiveness IMD 2019 and ranking 26, a frog leap of 13 ranks, compared to the previous ranking, last year, and ranking seventh among the G20 member states, outpacing a number of world industrial nations, due to the integrated efforts of more than 40 government bodies that took part, in carrying out various reforms to best serve business environment, in the kingdom, and raising its competitiveness edge, in accordance with the objectives of the Kingdom Vision 2030. The king also urged ministers and senior officials to do their utmost to churn further achievements.
Al-Shabanah also explained that the cabinet tackled a host of reports on the latest, regional as well as world, developments, reiterating, in this context, the Kingdom's call on the world community, during a Security Council session on the "Protecting Civilians, during Armed Conflict", to shoulder its responsibility by taking a firm stance against the Iran-backed terrorist Houthi militias targeting of densely populated areas, inside the Kingdom, with ballistic missiles and drones, in contravention of the International and Humanitarian laws and the relevant Security Council resolutions.
The cabinet expressed appreciation of the Committee of Prevention of Crime and Criminal Justice, in its 28th session, at the UN Office, in Geneva, for unanimously, ratifying the proposals that the Kingdom shared presenting them, in the field of preventing crime and criminal justice.
The cabinet also expressed denunciation and disapproval of the Kingdom of terrorist bombings that targeted a marketplace, in Mosul, Iraq, and two terrorist bombings targeted two mosques, in Kabul, Afghanistan and Quetta, Pakistan, and offered condolences and consolation to the families, kinsmen and governments and peoples of Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan respectively, wishing them speedy recovery and reiterating the kingdom taking the side of brethren countries against all forms terrorism and extremism.
The cabinet issued the following decisions:
First: the cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding in the field of wildlife between Saudi Wildlife Authority of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
Second: the cabinet approved the joining of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the multilateral agreement between the competent authorities on the exchange of reports on economic activities in countries.
Third: the cabinet approved number of arrangements, including:
- The implementation of the program of combating of red palm weevil through the formation of a standing committee in the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture under the chairmanship of the Undersecretary of the ministry and membership of representatives from a number of government agencies to take necessary procedure to achieve the objectives of the program.
- Forming ad hoc committees in the governorates of the administrative regions of the Kingdom to be authorized to supervise the implementation of the program and prepare quarterly reports on the program's implementation and submit them to the standing Committee.
Fourth: the cabinet re-formed the Committee on Settling Electricity Disputes, to be chaired by Dr. Mohammed bin Nasser Bajjad and the membership of Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Fahd, Dr. Fahd bin Ibrahim Al-Dhuwayan, Dr. Ahmed bin Saleh Al-Abdulwahab, Dr. Ali bin Ahmed Al-Shaikhi and Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Maghbouli.
Fifth: the cabinet amended Article 4 of the statute of King Abdullah Center for Petroleum Studies and Researches, in order that a trusteeship council shall oversee the center under the chairmanship of the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources and membership of twelve experts, in the related fields.
Sixth: the cabinet approved the safeguards of using information technology and communications, in the government departments.
Seventh: the cabinet approved a number of promotions as follows:
- Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdullatif Al-Abdullatif is appointed to the post of Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Khalid bin Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Shuaieer is promoted to the post of Deputy Governor (Rank 15) at the Saudi Grains Organization.
- Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Barrak is appointed to the post of Assistant Secretary of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development (Rank 15) at the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.
- Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Abdulrahman bin Huaimal is promoted to the post of Director General of Administrative and Financial Affairs (Rank 14) at the General Security.
- Saad bin Ghaithan bin Saad Al-Qarni is promoted to the post of Undersecretary of Services (Rank 14) at the secretariat of the Jazan region.
- Mohammed bin Zaid bin Ali bin Khathlan is promoted to the post of Civil Service Adviser (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Civil Service.
The cabinet was briefed on a number of general issues on its agenda, and instructed appropriate recommendations in their regard.
