The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud inaugurated the works of the 4th year of the 6th session of the Shura Council at the Council's headquarters in Riyadh today. Upon his arrival, the King was received by Prince Abdul-Ilah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques; Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh region; Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior; Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Madinah region; Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Crown Prince, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense; Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif; Prince Abdul-Majeed bin Abdul-Ilah bin Abdulaziz; and Speaker of the Shura Council Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Al-Sheikh. Immediately after the King's arrival, the royal anthem was played. After that, the King was greeted by the Council's senior officials and heads of committees. The King watched photos of the sessions of the Shura Council since its inception in 1346 AH. The inauguration ceremony started with a recitation of verses from the Holy Quran. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud delivered the annual royal speech. Following is the text: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Compassionate, Praise be to Allah, and prayer and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, Brothers and sisters, members of the Shura Council, May Allah's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you. With Allah's help, we inaugurate the 4th year of 6th session of the Shura Council, praying to Allah Almighty to bless the efforts, and make them sincere for Him, thanking your council for what it has done of works and taken of decisions. Your state was founded on the Holy Quran and Prophet's Sunnah and honored with the service of the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors; and it has seen since its inception a national cohesion witnessed by all, and the process of development and growth has continued in a rising pace, despite the international economic fluctuations. Brothers and sisters: In recognition of your government that the Saudi citizen is the first goal of development, it continued its interest in the sectors of health, education, housing, employment, transport, economy, and others, and provided them with unlimited material, human and organizational support; and the reorganization of the Cabinet's bodies comes in support of the development march. The Kingdom proceeded in its foreign policy on firm principles committed to international covenants, defending Arab and Islamic issues, aiming to fight terrorism and achieve security and stability in the world, and seeking to unite the ranks to confront the risks and challenges surrounding Arab and Islamic nations. My speech distributed to you reviewed the State's internal and external policy and its achievements. I pray to Allah Almighty to guide us for all goodness. Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullah Wabrakatuh. Before the King's speech, the Speaker of the Shura Council Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh delivered a speech in which he welcomed the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; the Crown Prince; the Deputy Crown Prince; Princes and Ministers in the Shura Council, which begins a new year of its march renewed with achievements and givings, thanks to the vision of this country's leaders and the unity loyal people. He said 'This blessed country lives under a rare form of cohesion between the leadership and the people, an image embodies a coherent sense among the a wise leadership and loyal people in leading to stability, security, prosperity and development. Dr. Al Al-Sheikh added, 'Since the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques took the reins of rule, our country is witnessing accelerated leaps toward renewal, prosperity and development and you have initiated since the first week of your blessed era with the adoption of a series of reforms , development and administrative decisions including the cancellation of a number of higher committees and councils and the establishment of two councils: the Council of Political and Security Affairs and the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, as well as the establishment of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid to be a center for the relief of communities suffering from disasters and your announcement of the allocation of one billion Saudi riyals for the Center's relief and humanitarian works. On the Kingdom's Foreign Policy, he said 'In terms of foreign policy of the Kingdom, the Palestinian cause still occupies an important focus in the Kingdom's policy while the Kingdom's efforts continued to support Syrian and Yemeni peoples and getting them rid of their crises. Moreover, the Speaker of the Shura Council hailed the announcement of forming an alliance against terrorism including 34 Islamic states led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the announcement of the establishment of a joint operations center to be based in Riyadh to coordinate and support the fight against terrorism and the development of necessary programs and mechanisms to support those efforts after the great success achieved by security men in our country who sacrificed their lives for the country and they have our greetings and appreciation. In his speech, Dr. Al Al-Sheikh addressed the King saying 'Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, while you graces us today by opening of the works of the fourth and final year of the sixth session of the Shura Council's activities, it gives me a great pleasure to point out before you that the Shura Council has completed in the third year of this session a set of drafts, regulations, agreements, reports and plans according to the provisions of Article (XV) of its regulation. At the conclusion of his speech, the speaker of the Shura Council renewed deep thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his support, attention and follow-up of the Council to achieve his aspirations to serve citizens. He also expressed thanks and appreciation to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior and to Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense for their support for the works of the Shura Council, expressing his thanks to its members and staff, praying to Allah Almighty to bestow His bounty and generosity upon this blessed country and its leaders and to achieve what everyone wishes of aspirations. The following is the text of the address of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the 4th year of the 6th session of the Shura Council: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Compassionate, Praise be to Allah, and prayer and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, His Family, and Companions. I am pleased to inaugurate the works of the 4th year of the 6th session of the Shura Council, praying to Allah Almighty to guide us to perform the responsibility in the best way. Brothers and sisters, I am pleased in this meeting to review the internal and external policy of the Kingdom, and the most prominent developments and challenges in this regard, looking forward that we all cooperate in the promotion of the achievements and address the obstacles so as to contribute to upgrading our dear homeland and the level of services provided to its citizens. The march of development is continuing on a firm pace since the reign of King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, and later his late sons, until the present era, and on top of our commitments comes what our country was honored by Allah Almighty of the service of the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors of pilgrims and Umrah performers, a commitment which we are proud of and we pledged Allah Almighty to spend dearly in this regard, topped by the State's interest in the construction of the Two Holy Mosques and their expansion. Brothers and Sisters, The development programs and growth being witnessed emanate from religious principles and social values to preserve the rights and set duties, and we are determined to continue those programs in political, cultural, economic, social, and service aspects; and therefore we directed the restructuring of the Cabinet's bodies followed by the cancellation of numerous councils, commissions and committees, and the transfer of their specialization to each of (Council of Political and Security Affairs, and Council of Economic Affairs and Development), and through these two councils under the supervision and follow-up of the Cabinet, efforts will continue in promoting the march of development and access to the integration of roles, determination of responsibilities, keeping abreast of developments, improvement of the environment of work and strengthening the state's apparatuses. Dear brothers and sisters: The rise in oil prices has contributed, over the past years, to the flow of large financial revenues of which the State was keen on the adoption of several mega development projects and the development of infrastructure as well as enhancing the State's general reserve, which enabled our country to overcome the repercussions of the drop in oil prices, by not affecting the continuation of the march of development and implementation of development plans and projects, and our economy has continued its real growth despite the international economic fluctuations and falling oil prices, thanks to balanced and prudent economic policies pursued by the State in controlling the public fiscal situations and maintaining stability and balance between resources and spending on mega development projects in all sectors. We have succeeded in maintaining the levels of public debt, which is still low compared to international rates and the Kingdom is keen to carry out the diversification of income sources and reduce dependence on oil as a major source of income, and our vision of economic reform is based on raising the efficiency of government spending, taking advantage of the economic resources and increasing the returns of government investment. We have directed the Council of Economic Affairs and Development to develop the necessary plans, policies and programs to do that, as our country is the one of the good and giving. Dear brothers and sisters: The 10th development plan which kicked off this year on solid economic development base and keeping pace with the aspirations and the most important developments and challenges. The development plan aims to raise the Gross Domestic Product level, consolidate the comprehensive economic development pillars, develop the manpower and raise its employment rates and increase spending on infrastructure, and the Council of Economic Affairs and Development through its mechanisms will follow up to ensure the success of the workflow and enhance the level of performance, and in this context, the National Center for Measuring the Performance of Government Bodies has been established and we have directed, upon what has been recommended by the Council of Economic Affairs and Development that Ministries and government agencies shall submit its trends and visions to the Council. We are also keen to improve the Saudi commercial market and form an attractive environment for work and investment for national and foreign companies as well as to simplify the procedures and facilitate investment in the Saudi market. We have directed to open the activity of retail and wholesale trade for foreign companies in an effort to diversify the goods and services provided to citizens and their provision with high quality and proper competitive prices and to open new job opportunities and training for Saudi youths.
