Saudi Arabia Govt: HRH Crown Prince Chairs Cabinet’s Session

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister chaired the Cabinet’s session held on Tuesday at Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh.
At the outset of the session, the Cabinet was briefed on the recent talks that took place between the Kingdom Saudi Arabia and a number of fraternal countries, including the two letters that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques received from Amir of the State of Qatar and the Crown Prince of the State of Kuwait, and the phone call made by HRH Crown Prince to the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The Cabinet touched on the content of the meeting of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques with the President of the People’s Republic of China during his official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which witnessed discussions between HRH Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and the President of the People’s Republic of China, the signing of the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between the two friendly countries, and the harmonization plan between the (Vision 2030) and the (Belt and Road Initiative), in addition to the signing of 46 agreements and memoranda of understanding between the government and private sectors to expand cooperation in various fields.
The Cabinet welcomed in this regard the outcomes of the (Saudi-China Summit), (Riyadh GCC-China Summit for Cooperation and Development) and (Riyadh Arab-China Summit for Cooperation and Development), as these three summits embodied the Kingdom’s the keenness on strengthening the deep-rooted friendship between the Arab countries and the People’s Republic of China and on consolidating the bonds of cooperation and partnership in various fields so as to achieve more growth and prosperity and serve the goals and aspirations towards a promising future for peoples and future generations.
The Cabinet hailed the content of HRH the Crown Prince’s speech during his chairmanship of the 43rd session of the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States as it reflected the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s interest in activating the march of cooperation in all fields, and the determination to present a second phase of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ vision on promoting joint action, in line with the ambitious development visions being adopted by the GCC member states, economic transformation plans, and their growing role in regional and international issues.
In his statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Acting Minister of Media, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, stated that the Cabinet discussed a number of regional and international issues, reiterating what had been confirmed by the Kingdom, during the Conference of the States Parties Oversees the Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, of its interest in supporting the goals of the agreement aimed at maintaining international peace and security, and ensuring the use of chemistry for peaceful purposes, as an extension of the Kingdom’s firm policy aimed at strengthening cooperation to ban all types of weapons of mass destruction and prevent their proliferation, including making the Middle East region free of them.
The Cabinet hailed the agreement reached by the parties of the transitional phase in the Republic of Sudan of reconciliation and signing of the framework agreement, affirming the Kingdom’s position in support of everything that would achieve peace and maintain security, stability, and development in this fraternal country.
The Cabinet considered the United Nations’ selection of Riyadh to launch the Global Humanitarian Overview 2023 as a reflection of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s distinguished position among the countries of the world in this field and its role within the framework of its presidency of the major donors group to unify joint efforts and enhance international cooperation to achieve the targets of sustainable development and eradicate poverty, in addition to the delivery of aid to the needy and alleviating the suffering of the most needy groups and communities.
At the local level, the Cabinet valued the discovery of two new natural gas fields in the Eastern region by the Saudi Arabian Oil Company’s (Saudi Aramco).
Dr. Al-Qasabi further said that the Cabinet described the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s progress in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2022 issued by the Global Competitiveness Center of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) as a translation of the leadership’s interest in the sector of education to upgrade it in line with the successful global best practices, the targets of national development and the Human Capability Development Program.
The Cabinet was briefed on the topics on its agenda, some co-studied by the Shura Council, as well as on the conclusions reached by the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, the Council for Political and Security Affairs, the Cabinet’s General Committee and the Cabinet’s Bureau of Experts.
The Cabinet issued the following decisions:
First: Approving a draft cooperation agreement between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of the Hellenic Republic (Greece) in the field of sports.
Second: Authorizing the Minister of Investment – or his representative – to discuss with the Italian side a draft memorandum of understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Italy for cooperation in the field of encouraging direct investment and sign it prior to forwarding the final version to complete legal procedure.
Third: Approving a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of health between the Ministry of Health in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Health in the Hellenic Republic (Greece).
Fourth: Approving a framework agreement for cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Fifth: Authorizing the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Export Development Authority (SEDA) – or his representative – to discuss with the Ghanaian side a draft memorandum of understanding between SEDA in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ghanaian Export Promotion Authority in the Republic of Ghana in the field of developing non-oil exports and sign it prior to forwarding the final version to complete legal procedure.
Sixth: Approving a draft memorandum of understanding between the General Department of Financial Investigation at the Presidency of State Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Department of Combating Economic Crimes in the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Uzbekistan regarding cooperation in the exchange of information related to money laundering, terrorist financing and related crimes.
Seventh: Authorizing the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) – or his representative – to discuss with the French side a draft memorandum of understanding between SFDA in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the French Agency for Food, Environment, Occupational Health and Safety in the Republic of France in the field of managing veterinary medicinal products and sign it prior to forwarding the final version to complete legal procedure.
Eighth: Authorizing the General Supervisor of National Center for Archives and Documents – or his representative – to discuss with the Moroccan side a draft memorandum of cooperation between the National Center for Documents and Archives in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Archives of Morocco in the Kingdom of Morocco in the field of documents and archiving and sign it prior to forwarding the final version to complete legal procedure.
Ninth: Approving the extension of the period specified in Article (73) of the Water Law, issued by Royal Decree No. (M / 159) dated 11/11/1441 AH, by an additional year in relation to the deadline for disclosing the existence of unlicensed wells.
Tenth: Adding a paragraph bearing the number (2) to Article (twenty-one) of the regulation of the General Authority for Awqaf, issued by Royal Decree No. (M / 11) dated 2/26/1437 AH, to read as follows: “Article twenty-one:
1- In terms of fees, the Authority shall be treated as other public bodies and institutions.
2- The charitable endowment and the charitable share in the joint endowment, which are registered by the Authority, shall be excluded from the provisions of the judicial costs regulation.
The Cabinet also reviewed a number of general topics on its agenda, including annual reports of the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Authority; the Saline Water Conversion Corporation; the National Center for Wildlife Development; the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority; King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah), and the General Authority for Competition. The Cabinet has taken the necessary measures regarding these issues.