Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Crown Prince, Advisor and Special Envoy of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday afternoon. At the outset of the session, the Cabinet was briefed on the results of the meeting of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and leaders of the State of Kuwait, Kingdom of Bahrain, State of Qatar and the State of the United Arab Emirates, which came to consolidate the spirit of sincere cooperation and emphasize the common destiny and the aspirations and ambitions of the peoples of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Arab States for solid cohesion and close convergence. The Cabinet was also briefed on Riyadh supplementary agreement serving the unity of GCC Arab States, their interests and the future of their peoples, commending the decision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Bahrain to return their ambassadors to the State of Qatar. The Deputy Crown Prince conveyed during the session the thanks and appreciation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for the GCC leaders for what had prevailed in the meeting of the keenness of all in the interest of the brotherly states, praising the wisdom of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the GCC leaders which led to the achievement of these results. The Cabinet was briefed on the talks held by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques with President Fuad Masum of the Republic of Iraq on the latest developments at regional and international arenas, and prospects for cooperation between the two brotherly countries and ways of enhancing them. The Cabinet welcomed the results of Group of Twenty summit, in which the Kingdom's delegation was headed on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud by Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense. The Cabinet stressed that the contents of the Kingdom's speech delivered by the Crown Prince in front of the summit, which confirms the importance of cooperation and work to address the issues that represent a threat to world peace as the economic growth and world peace can not be achieved without each other, the Kingdom's readiness for continuing the support for international efforts to enhance security and stability in the region in view of their importance for the world stability and peace, and the Kingdom's continuity in its balanced policies and positive and effective role to enhance global energy markets through its active role in the global oil market and taking into account the interests of producers and consumers of energy. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency, following the session, Minister of Social Affairs and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Yusuf Bin Ahmed Al-Othaymeen said that the Council of Ministers was briefed on the results of the Deputy Crown Prince's talks with Prime Minister of Libya Abdullah Al-Thani, and on a number of reports on a number of scientific, economic, cultural and sporting activities, which took place in the Kingdom during the week. In this regard, the cabinet thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his patronage of the thirty sixth session of King Abdulaziz Holy Quran international contest held in Makkah with the participation of 159 contestants from the Islamic nations. The council also valued the patronage by Deputy Crown Prince of the achievement award for Electronic-Government transactions at its third session and congratulated the winning bodies, expressing hope for further progress in the field of transition to Electronic-Government. The council welcomed all participants in the twenty second football Gulf cup tournament, considering patronage by Deputy Crown Prince on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of the tournament's opening as a continuation of support for Saudi and Arab sports and youths by the King, the Crown Prince and Deputy Crown Prince and the historical sports significance represented by this event for the people of the Arab Gulf. The minister said that the cabinet was briefed on the results of the Coordinating Ministerial Meeting of the Contact Team affiliated to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the organization's plan for Holy Alquds and Palestine, which was concluded in Morocco, reiterating the kingdom's assertion not to remain silent about the Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, its desecration, attempts to pass a bill to divide it in terms of time and location and change of the demographic and geographic makeup of the city of Alquds, and its emphasis on the importance of taking a unified Islamic position by intensifying collective action by the Islamic countries at the international level to end the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories, and gain full recognition of the State of Palestine in implementation of relevant international resolutions. The council listened to a report on the kingdom's participation in the 4th ministerial forum on gas which was organized by the International Energy Forum and the World Federation of Gas in Mexico and the contents of the statement by the kingdom showing the kingdom's resources, the resources' uses, future goals of its policy in the field of gas and the future of energy in the world on a larger scale; confirmation of the firmness of the kingdom's oil policy; that it has not changed to this day; and its efforts with other producers to ensure price stability for the benefit of producers and consumers and the industry as a whole. The cabinet commended the organization of the fifth annual conference on of the tax forum for the Middle East and North Africa in the kingdom and its agenda item covering deliberations and exchange of expertise and experiences, important and vital topics about tax policies, ways to address them and useful recommendations to address the challenges in the field of taxes and their procedures. The Council of Ministers expressed pride in the kingdom's achievement of tangible progress in the Human Development Report for United Nation Development Program for 2014 as the kingdom ranked 34th globally compared to rank 57th in the report for 2013, joining the group of countries with very high human development; achieved second place among the Arab and Gulf countries; and 10th in the Group of Twenty, which is a positive development and an improvement in its ranking higher than the world's rate and the rate of rank improvement of the groups of other countries. Dr. Al-Othaymeen said that the Cabinet took the following decisions: First: After reviewing a report of Minister of Education and Deputy Chairman of Supreme Committee for Education Policy, the Cabinet approved the establishment of a sports federation in the name of Saudi School Sports Federation, and that the Supreme Committee for Education Policy shall set regulations for it. Second: After reviewing a report of Ministry of Education and two decisions of Majlis Al-Shura No. (145/74) dated on 13/2/1432 AH and No. (84/37) dated on 21/08/1434 AH, the Cabinet approved the child protection regulation. Among the most prominent features of this regulation are : - The regulation establishes the system to protect each person- not exceeding eighteen years old, aiming to confront abuse - in all its forms - and neglect to the child in the surrounding environment, stressing the rights of the child established by Islamic Sharia and international regulations and conventions in which the Kingdom is a party. - The regulation provides for considering a number of acts as an abuse or neglect to the child's right including causing interruption of his or her education, ill-treatment, harassment, exposition to exploitation, use of abusive words that degrade dignity, and discrimination against the child for any ethnic, social or economic reason. - The regulation obliges anyone who watches a case of harm or neglect to the child to inform the competent authorities immediately. Third: The Cabinet approved an agreement for the extradition of accused and convicted persons between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Algeria, signed in Riyadh on 03/06/1434H. Fourth: The Cabinet approved a customs cooperation agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of Morocco, signed in Rabat on 23/12/1434H. Fifth: The Cabinet approved the arrangements and controls for members of the Board of the Saudi Organization for Certified Valuators attending the Board's meetings. Sixth: The Cabinet replaced King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology with King Abdullah City of Atomic and Renewable Energy to chair the Permanent National Committee of Radiological and Nuclear Emergency Response. Seventh: The Cabinet approved the re-formation of the Appeals Committee for Securities Disputes for three years as follows: 1- Naqa bin Khalid Al-Otaibi from The Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers, President. 2- Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Al-Suhaibani from the Ministry of Finance, Member. 3- Badr bin Abdulmohsen Al-Haddab from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Member. 4- Dr. Bandar bin Obaid Al-Rashid from the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers, Alternate Member. 5- Mohammed bin Abdulmohsen Al-Osaimi from the Ministry of Finance, Alternate Member. 6- Abdulhakim bin Ibrahim Al-Aqeel from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Alternate Member. Eighth: The Cabinet approved a number of appointments as follows: 1- Bandar bin Mohammed Jamil Ahmed Mahmoud appointed to the post of Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2- Eng. Ahmed bin Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al-Hujairi appointed to the post of Undersecretary of the Mayor for Services (Rank 15) at Jeddah Governorate Municipality. 3- Adnan bin Mohammed bin Fahd Al-Essa appointed to the post of Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 4- Abdullah bin Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al-Dakhil appointed to the post of Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 5- Khalid bin Mohamed Fadel bin Al-Sadat Mohammed Al-Aqeb appointed to the post of Director General of the Region Governor's Office (Rank 14) at the Principality of Madinah Region. 6- Abdulaziz bin Fahd bin Mohammed Al-Zmam appointed to the post of Assistant Undersecretary of the Principality (Rank 14) at the Principality of Northern Border Region. 7- Mohammed bin Mohammed bin Ali Al-Ruwaigh appointed to the post of Secretary of the Region's Council (Rank 14) at the Principality of Riyadh Region. 8- Abdullah bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jwair appointed to the post of Legal Advisor (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Justice. The Cabinet was briefed on the annual reports of Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and Department of Customs, for the fiscal year (1433/1434H) and issued its directives towards them. The Cabinet's General Secretariat will submit the results of this session to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for issuing his directives in this regard.
