The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah on Monday afternoon. At the outset of the session, the King and ministers prayed to Allah Almighty to bestow His mercy on late Prince Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, President of Allegiance-Pledge Commission. The King expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to the leaders and officials of sisterly and friendly countries and the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their sincere condolences on the prince's demise. The Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Alawwad said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) after the session that the Cabinet extended its deep and sincere condolences to the King; the family, sons and daughters of the deceased prince and the people of the Kingdom, praying to Allah Almighty to bestow mercy on the soul of the late prince and award him the best for what he has provided for his religion and homeland. Then, the King briefed the Cabinet on the outcomes of his meeting with Emir of State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, his talks with President Ernest Bai Koroma of Republic of Sierra Leone; his meetings with Pakistan's Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Director General of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Irina Bokova; and the two messages received from President Béji Caid Sibsi of Republic of Tunisia and President Raul Castro of Republic of Cuba. The Cabinet was briefed on a number of reports pertaining to latest developments at Arab, regional and international arenas, reiterating the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's firm positions towards various events, congratulating Mr. Emmanuel Macaron on his election as President of the French Republic and wishing him all success and the French Republic further progress and prosperity. The Cabinet welcomed the joint statement issued at the conclusion of Saudi-Qatari Coordination Council's meeting at its 5th session co-chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior and Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, Premier and Minister of Interior of the State of Qatar, and its confirmation that wisdom prevails in dealing with various events in a number of Arab and Muslim countries in a way that ensures the preservation of their safety, stability and the prosperity of their peoples and that the fight against terrorism is a joint international responsibility requiring international concerted efforts at all levels to confront it in security, intellectually, financially, media and militarily. He explained that the Cabinet highly appreciated the care and attention of the Kingdom to the competitions of the Holy Quran at local and international levels, and allocation of financial and moral rewards to the winners and participants of all categories, which reflect the keenness of its leadership since its establishment to encourage the Islamic nation's youth to review the Book of Allah and commit to its provisions and promote the values of moderation, noting, in this context, to the annual contest of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for memorization of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah at the level of ASEAN countries, the Pacific region and the countries of Central and Eastern Asia in Jakarta, and Prince Naif Contest for Memorization of the Holy Quran for the employees of the security sectors, which concluded last week. The Cabinet praised the efforts of the security authorities in combating smuggling and promotion of narcotics and psychotropic substances and tracking the elements involved and arrest them in coordination and cooperation with Saudi Customs and counterparts in the brotherly and friendly countries, lauding the security bodies for arresting 1628 during the last six months of this year, who are involved in receiving, transferring and transporting of drugs and psychotropic substances. The Cabinet reviewed the opening ceremony of the 12th session of the "Euro Money-Saudi Arabia 2017" conference, lauding the important strategic topics covered by the conference that related to the projects in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and the economic prospects for 2017. The Cabinet expressed pride of strength of the financial position of the Kingdom, in light of the doubling of GDP over the past ten years which represents about 50% of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economy. Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad stated that the Cabinet reviewed the topics on the agenda of the meeting, including subjects co-studied with Majlis Al-Shura and took the following decisions: First: the Cabinet authorized the Minister of Foreign Affairs - or his deputy - to discuss and sign with the Swedish side a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden. Second: the Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of housing between the Ministry of Housing of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Third: the Cabinet approved a number of arrangements, including that the Ministry of Water and Electricity's Commission for Electricity and its documents, and its properties will be assigned from the Ministry of Water and Electricity (canceled) to the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources. The Cabinet approved that the Ministry's Commission for Water Affairs and sewage department and their documents and properties as well as the water directorates in the regions with independent budgets, and the integrated water directorates within the budget of the Ministry of Water and Electricity (canceled) and supporting departments with their documents and their properties will be assigned to Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture. The Cabinet approved that the headquarters of the water directorates in the region with independent budgets and the integrated water directorates within the budget of the Ministry of Water and Electricity (cancelled) will be transferred to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture. The Cabinet approved that 178 jobs are transferred to the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources and 9993 jobs to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture. Fourth: The Cabinet approved that the Minister of Finance is to issue necessary permits for the Saudi Gulf International Bank, under incorporation, in accordance with Article (3) of the Banking Control Law. Fifth: The Cabinet approved a number of promotions and appointments at 14th and 15th ranks as well as a job of "ambassador" as follows: 1- Eng. Abdurrahman bin Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Moufarej is promoted to the post of undersecretary for contractors classification affairs (rank 15) at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. 2- Ahmad bin Younis bin Sulieman Al-Barrak is promoted to the post of Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 3- Fahd bin Isa bin Abdullah Al-Munaif is promoted to the post of administrative adviser (rank 15) at the Ministry of Finance. 4- Eng. Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Hammad Al-Aqel is promoted to the post of architect consultant engineer (rank 14) at Riyadh Principality. 5- Marwan bin Hosni bin Abdullah Al-Suliemani is appointed as director general of the ministry's branch in Jeddah Province (rank 14) at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. 6- Abdulhameed bin Ahmad bin Mohammed Al-Masoud is promoted to the post of director general of educational region (rank 14) at the Ministry of Education. 7- Ahmad bin Fallah bin Abdullah Al-Fallah is promoted to the post of administrative adviser (rank 14) at Control and Investigation Board. The Cabinet was briefed on a number of general topics on its agenda, including a report of the Justice Ministry about results of works of settlement offices and an annual report of the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources for a previous fiscal year. The Cabinet issued relevant recommendations towards them.
