The Royal Court said today that the government restructuring stems from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s commitment to the policy of growth and development which has been adopted the Kingdom’s founder King Abdulaziz and his sons.

In line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, the restructuring of some ministries, authorities and general organizations was conducted in accordance with the requirements of this phase and the desired aspirations to have the state bodies performing their duties in the best way to provide the citizens and expatriates with high level services and to achieve a prosperous future and a sustainable development.  The objectives of Vision 2030 necessitated the elimination, integration and arrangement of the jurisdiction of many ministries, authorities, public commissions and government departments in order to make the responsibilities clear and facilitate the procedures to provide the best services in line with the state policy. 

In order to achieve these objectives, a number of royal orders were issued today restructuring some ministries and government bodies and appointing a number of ministers and officials:

Eliminating the Ministry of Water and Electricity;

Renaming the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to the Ministry of Commerce and Investment;

Renaming the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources to Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources. In addition to its energy responsibilities, the ministry will have the added tasks and responsibilities related to electricity and industry, and the management of the National Industrial Cluster Development Program.
Renaming the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture with the added responsibilities relating to environment and water.

Renaming the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance to become the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance.

Renaming the Ministry of Hajj to become the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

Merge the Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs into the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

Renaming the General Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection to the General Authority for Meteorology and Environment Protection with a board of directors.

Renaming the General Presidency for Youth Welfare to the General Authority for Sports with a board of directors whose chairman is appointed by a royal decree.

Renaming the Public Education Evaluation Commission to the Education Evaluation Commission with responsibilities relating to the evaluation of public and higher education at the Ministry of Education and the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation.  The commission shall combine the National Commission for Academic 
Accreditation and Assessment, the National Center for Assessment in Higher Education, and the Technical and Vocational Accreditation and Assessment Center.  The chairman the commission’s board of directors will be appointed by a royal decree.

Renaming the Department of Zakat and Income Tax to the General Authority for Zakat and Income and will be linked to the Minister of Finance and have a board of directors chaired by the Minister of Finance.

Establishing the General Authority for Entertainment (GAE) with the responsibilities for all activities relating to entertainment.  The chairman of the board of directors is appointed by royal decree.  Government agencies tasked with entertainment activity will continue their work until the General Authority for Entertainment.

Establishing the General Authority for Culture with a board of directors chaired by the Minister of Culture and Information.

Set up the General Authority for Endowment with the Minister of Labor and Social Development as chairman of the board of directors.

The Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture will chair the board of directors of the General Authority for Meteorology and Environment Protection, the Saudi Commission for Wildlife and the General Organization for Water Desalination.

The Minister of Commerce and Investment will chair the board of directors of the General Authority for Investment, the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises and the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization.

The Minister of Health will chair the board of directors of the Saudi Red Crescent Authority.

The Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources will chair the board of directors of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, the Industrial Development Fund, the Saudi Organization for Industrial Estates and Technology Zones, the Saudi Geological Survey, the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, the Saudi Exports Development Authority and the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy.

The Commission of Experts at the Council of Ministers instructed to carry out the royal decrees within three months.

King Salman also relieved the following ministers of their posts:  Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Minister of Hajj Dr. Bandar Hajjar, Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Minister of Transport Abdullah Al-Muqbil, and Minister of Social Affairs Dr. Majed Al-Qasabi.

King Salman appointed Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan Minister of Transport; Khaled Al-Falih Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources.  Tawfiq Al-Rabiah Minister of Health; Majed Al-Qassabi Minister of Commerce and Investment; Muhammad Bantan Minister of Haj and Umrah.  Dr. Mufrej bin Saad Al-Haqbani Minister of Labor and Social Development; Muhammad Al-Tuwaijri has been appointed as Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning.

King Salman also appointed former Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, Sheikh Saad bin Nasser Al-Shathri, Prince Khalid bin Saud bin Khalid, Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Mohammed advisers at the Royal Court at minister ranks.  Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz was appointed advisers at the Royal Court at the excellent rank.  Prince Torki bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Kabeer was named an adviser to the king with the rank of minister.  Prince Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid as appointed to the Shura Council.