Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, chaired a cabinet session at Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh on Tuesday afternoon.
At the outset of the session, the king briefed the Cabinet on the contents of telephone contacts with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation; President Emmanuel Macaron of the Republic of France; British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany, during which latest developments, bilateral relations and ways of developing them in all fields were reviewed.
The king also briefed the Cabinet on the content of his message sent to Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and the results of meetings and talks held during a week with a number of leaders of countries and their envoys including King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; President of the Republic of Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba; President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal; Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai; Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister of Kingdom of Bahrain; the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Amran Khan and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lebanon Saad Al-Hariri, during which they discussed the prospects and areas of cooperation, their enhancement and latest developments in the region and the world.
The cabinet praised the assurance made by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Defense and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Public Investment Fund, during his participation in the dialogue session within the Future Investment Initiative Forum 2018, in the presence of a number of states' presidents and figures from around the world, that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made huge steps in enhancing and developing the Saudi economy during the past three years in the fields of governance and restructuring of many sectors. HRH Crown Prince also highlighted the rapid growth of the Kingdom's budget and its advancement in the global competitiveness, and that its projects, reforms, and war against terrorism and extremism are continuing and will never stop, in addition to the improvement in cultural, sports, and entertainment activities, the present and future projects of the Middle East, and its huge achievements that will make it in the forefront of the world.
Minister of Media Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session that the Cabinet praised the outcomes of the Future Investment Initiative 2018, which was organized by the Public Investment Fund for the second year in a row, with the participation of many businessmen, corporate executives and economic analysts from around the world, including the initial launch of the National Industry and Logistics Development Program, which is one of the programs to achieve the Kingdom's Vision 2030, the signing of huge investment memorandums of understanding and agreements in various fields, worth nearly 60 billion dollars, which confirms the confidence in the Kingdom's economy and reflects its strength regionally and globally.
The Cabinet also commended the status that the Kingdom's economy has reached, which confirms the positive results of reform measures being exerted by the Kingdom's government and tremendous efforts made to bring the economy to an advanced position compared to the economies of other countries, pointing in this context to the growth of non-oil revenues by 48% at the end of the third quarter compared to the same period last year, and the growth of government spending by 25% at the end of the third quarter, compared to the same period last year, which contributed effectively to supporting the economic growth.
The cabinet praised the completion of the specialized judiciary system following the launching of general, specialized and labor courts in implementation of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to develop the judiciary sector and in accordance with the judicial system and its executive mechanism, lauding the transferring of labor cases to the public judiciary.
The minister stated that the cabinet reviewed the latest developments and the situations on-going in the region and the world, welcoming the measures taken by the member states of Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), which designated nine individuals linked to the Taliban Movement, including Iranians, in addition to the designation made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain for four persons sure to have provided sponsorship and financial and material support for Iran's terrorist sabotage activities, considered a joint and strong effort to expand and strengthen cooperation of Member States to combat the financing of terrorism, coordinate the exerted efforts to stop its funding, exchange information and upgrade the capacity of Member States to target funding networks and the related activities that pose risks to the national security of member states.
The cabinet noted the Kingdom's full cooperation with the United Nations and the international community to achieve welfare and aspirations including the achievement of world security, stability and development, as well as continuing to provide its humanitarian, political and economic role with a sense of full responsibility, considering its Islamic and global status and a vow to implement the goals of Sustainable Development Plan 2030, citing the Kingdom's debt pardoning initiative exempting least developed countries from a total $ 6 billion debt.
The cabinet reiterated the Kingdom's condemnation of terrorist massacres, brutal attacks and genocide being committed against the Rohingya in Rakhine State and other minorities in Kachin Shan province and other areas in northern Myanmar, which constitute one of the worst forms of brutal and bloody terrorism against Muslim and other minorities, reaffirming the Kingdom's call for urgent action to stop the violence and such barbaric practices and offer the minority of the Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar their rights without segregation or apartheid.
The cabinet also expressed the Kingdom's condemnation in the strongest terms for the shooting incident in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the attack in the town of Jafra in southern Libya, and the two suicide bombings in the capital of Tunisia and Afghan capital, claiming of deaths and injuries, and the Kingdom's rejection of such criminal acts and their extremist thoughts, offering condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and to the governments and peoples of those countries, wishing the injuries a quick recovery.
With regard to local affairs, the Cabinet praised the Kingdom's care of whatever serves Islam and Muslims in a way that achieves their interests, hailing the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz's patronage of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy Conference, hosted by the Islamic University in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah.
Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad also said that the Cabinet reviewed the meeting agenda. The Cabinet decided the following:
First: the cabinet authorized the Minister of Transport, Chairman of the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), or his deputy, to sign two draft agreements in the field of air transport services between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the governments of the Republic of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus.
Second: the cabinet authorized the president of Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage or his deputy to discuss and sign a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of tourism between the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Investment of Australia.
Third: the cabinet approved a number of measurs regarding the procedures of filing labor lawsuits, and approved the addition of a paragraph to Shari'a Proceedings Law and two articles to the Labor Law.
Fourth: the cabinet authorized the mills privatization committee to transfer the assets, rights and liabilities related to flour mill activity to the companies established by the Public Investment Fund.
Fifth: the cabinet approved the amendment of Articles (4) and (5) of the Telecommunications Law.
Sixth: the cabinet approved a number of promotions as follows:
1- Ibrahim bin Abdullah bin Ibrahim Abu Aba was promoted to the post of Security Advisor (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Interior.
2- Abdulaziz bin Faleh bin Dale Al Sultan was promoted to the post of Director General of Legal Department (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Transport.
3- Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Ahmed Al-Mansoori was promoted to the post of Administrative Advisor (Rank 14) at the General Presidency of the Affairs of the Holy Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque.
The cabinet reviewed a number of general issues on its agenda and took necessary recommendations.
