Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chairs a cabinet's sessionat Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Tuesday afternoon.
At the outset of the session, the king briefed the cabinet on the message received from President Nana Akufo-Addo of the Republic of Ghana and the results of his talks with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bahrain and their discussion on latest developments in the region.
The cabinet commended His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense's inauguration and laying the foundation stone for seven strategic projects during his visit to King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Riyadh, including the areas of renewable and atomic energy, water desalination, genetic medicine and aircraft industry as well as the inauguration of the Central Laboratory of the Saudi Human Genome Program, a solar water desalination plant in Al-Khafji, two production lines for solar panels and cells, a laboratory to check the reliability of solar panels in Al-Oyayna and the launch of Bader Program Incubators and Accelerators in Dammam, Qassim, Madinah and Abha. The projects also included laying the foundation stone for a solar power water desalination plant in Yanbu, a low-energy reactor for nuclear research and a facility for the development of aircraft fuselages, so that all these projects reflect a practical translation of the wise leadership's diligent seeking to develop huge projects to contribute to achieving the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and to advance the march of sustainable development for the benefit of the homeland and its citizens.
Minister of Media Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session that the Cabinet discussed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's confirmation in its speech before human rights meetings in Geneva on its keenness to move forward towards the promotion and protection of human rights and the achievement of sustainable development, based on the principles and rules of the Islamic Sharia, its regulations and obligations under regional and international human rights conventions.
The cabinet also commended Madinah Declaration issued by the Conference of Islamic Fiqh Council at its 23rd session held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and its resolutions and recommendations issued in the interest of the Islamic world and serving judges, Muftis, researchers, doctors, economists, and students during which scholars followed the approach of moderation, as stated in the holy Quran and the Sunnah to achieve the purposes of the Islamic Sharia.
The cabinet pointed to the quarterly report of the performance of the general budget of the Government for the third quarter of the fiscal year 1439/1440 H. (2018) on decreasing in the deficit rates compared with same period of the previous year, improving in the fiscal discipline, the gradual reduction of deficit rates, developing of non-oil revenues, and upgrading spending efficiency despite the increase in social spending on various initiatives such as citizen account, cost of living allowance and infrastructure projects, which have confirmed the effectiveness of economic reforms and measures to sustain public finances.
The minister stated that the cabinet reviewed the latest developments in the region and the world, noting the communiqué of the summit of the speakers of parliaments of the G20 member states in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represented by the Shura Council, and the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development of member states which confirmed the importance of initiatives provided by States at the Summits since 2008, in addition to the leading role of women in economic and social development, the importance of being guided by previous summit outcomes and the joint action for supporting the G-20.
The cabinet reviewed the condemnation issued by officials of the 21st Arab Conference of Counter-Terrorism held in Tunisia on terrorist acts in all their forms and manifestations as well as the recommendations to contribute to more coordination in facing of terrorism and reducing its repercussions in the region, the need to promote Arab and international cooperation and accelerate the exchange of information and experience in facing of terrorist acts through a joint Arab-security vision.
The cabinet expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strong condemnations of the shooting incident on a passenger bus in Minya Governorate in the Arab Republic of Egypt and the explosion near Khanqin town in northeastern Iraq, stressing the kingdom's stand with Egypt and Iraq against various manifestations of violence, terrorism and extremism, expressing condolences to the families of victims in the two crashes of the Indonesian passenger plane and the Afghan military helicopter.
Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad said that the cabinet issued the following decisions:
First: the cabinet approved a cooperation agreement in the field of environmental protection and pollution control between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Second: the cabinet authorized the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture or his deputy to discuss with the Chinese side a draft protocol between the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China for exporting frozen white shrimps from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the People's republic of China, sign and submit the final version to complete legal procedures.
Third: the cabinet approved the final account of the University of Taibah for the previous fiscal year.
Fourth: the cabinet approved promoting Khalid bin Mohammed bin Abdulmohsen Al-Mudlaj to the post of Director General of Administrative and Financial Affairs (rank 15th) at the Ministry of Defense.
The cabinet was briefed on a number of general topics on its agenda, including annual reports of Ministry of Culture and Information (formerly), Saline Water Conversion Corporation and Capital Market Authority for a previous fiscal year, and issued its directives in this regard.