Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz today chaired the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers and welcomed a report that the Kingdom is acknowledged to be one of the few countries in the world that have completed tests and worked out contingency plans for the Y2K situation. The report stated that Saudi Arabia's preparedness to face computer problems in finance, banking and exchange services came in the top level in an international classification.  The cabinet was fully briefed on what has been accomplished by the Higher Committee on Y2K Research, notably identification of the problem, its impact, and ways of dealing with it and following up on efforts by both the private and the public sectors to prepare for it.  King Fahd instructed the Chairman and members of this committee to continue their studies and finalize measures to adjust computer programs to effect a smooth transition to the year 2000, and directed all agencies, both government and private, to cooperate with the committee and show their concern to complete their preparedness to face the problem and carry out the requisite tests to ensure Y2K compatibility.

At the beginning of the meeting, King Fahd briefed the cabinet on the visit to the Kingdom last week of Chinese President Jiang Zemin and expressed satisfaction at the level of friendship and cooperation that binds the two countries in all fields, supporting mutual interests and fostering world peace and security. King Fahd also briefed the cabinet on his recent talks with Prime Minister of Lebanon Dr. Salim Al-Hoss, and praised Saudi-Lebanese relations, confirming the Kingdom's support for unconditional restoration to Lebanon of its occupied territories in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425.
Minister of the Interior Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz then briefed the cabinet on the outcome of the 18th conference of interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) last week at Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates.  Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal reported on the 73rd meeting of the GCC foreign ministers held in Riyadh yesterday to prepare for the GCC's 20th Summit.
Turning to domestic matters, the cabinet then authorized the Interior Minister or his representative to discuss and eventually sign a draft agreement on security cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Spain.

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