Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired the Cabinet session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah this afternoon. At the outset, the Cabinet congratulated the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz on winning the Cultural Personality Award for the year 2014, awarded by the Sheikh Zayed Book Prize, which recognized the monarch’s humanitarian and cultural achievements at home and abroad.

Then, the Cabinet reviewed the latest regional and international developments and discussed prospects for cooperation between the Kingdom and numerous friendly countries. The ministers were briefed on the statement issued by the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states following the meeting of GCC Foreign Ministers in Riyadh, in which the member states agreed on the importance of implementing the mechanisms of the Riyadh Declaration. The Council also congratulated Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on his re-election to a fourth presidential term, wishing Algeria steady progress and prosperity.

Turning to the domestic arena, the Cabinet hailed the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) for winning eleventh place among 100 companies from emerging economies for its efforts in the field of transparency and anti-corruption, as ranked by the International Transparency Organization (ITO). It commended the 5th International Exhibition and Conference on Higher Education, which enjoyed the participation of more than 430 universities and higher education institutions and more than 1,000 exhibitors from thirty-six states. The ministers also noted the celebration by the Radio and Television Commission of the 50th anniversary of the start of television broadcasts in the Kingdom and welcomed the activities of the Principles Forum Set by Islamic Sharia held by the Ministry of Justice.

Finally, the Cabinet was reassured regarding the efforts of the Ministry of Health to contain coronavirus (MERS) in coordination with national and international agencies and organizations.

Addressing its remaining agenda items, the Cabinet approved the controls required to be taken into account when preparing and studying draft regulations of government agencies; approved a memorandum of understanding in the field of tourism between the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) and the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture and Tourism; approved the Kingdom’s contribution to increase the capital of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) by 764,720 shares with a nominal value per share of 10,000 Islamic Dinars Special Drawing Right (SDR) (one Islamic Dinar is equivalent to one SDR of the International Monetary Fund); authorized the Minister of Communications and Information Technology to sign a draft memorandum of understanding between the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Finnish Ministry of Housing and Communications for cooperation in the field of communications and information technology; and approved the renewal and appointment of several members of the Board of Directors of the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI).

The Cabinet approved the appointments of Dr. Saeed Al-Qarni as Secretary General of the Higher Committee for Administrative Organization at the Institute of Public Administration (15th rank); Ali Yousef as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Majed Al-Qahtani as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Abdullah Al-Amer as Security Advisor at the Ministry of Interior (14th rank).