The Cabinet on Monday approved the Kingdom joining the Nuclear Safety Convention, the UN nuclear watchdog agency's pact on maintaining safety in nuclear power plants. In its weekly meeting here, presided over by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Cabinet approved accession to the 1994 convention, which has 66 members and is overseen by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. The UN convention sets certain safety standards for the operation of nuclear plants and commits parties to adhere to them, though it lacks any enforcement powers beyond the pressure from other signatories. On domestic issues, the Council of Ministers reviewed the proposed measures for the Al-Haramain Express Train Project as referred to it by the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Investments Fund. Upon recommendation of the Supreme Economic Council, the Council approved a number of measures including: The General Investments Fund will conclude and finance services and work contracts for the Al-Haramain Express Train Project on the basis of loans from the financial resources of the fund. These loans will be repaid from general state budget allocations in coming years. The company carrying out the project will enjoy all the privileges and facilities granted to state projects in obtaining energy needs at local prices. The Ministry of Transport will urgently provide the ministries of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Petroleum and Mineral Resources with detailed maps of the route of the Al-Haramain Express Train Project, as well as road limits and geographical coordinates for the route in digital and paper form. Abdul Aziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, said the Council was briefed on a number of international developments. The Council lauded the outcome of the London Conference on Afghanistan and Yemen. In this regard, the Kingdom has reaffirmed its full commitment to maintain long-term policies to provide assistance and aid to Afghanistan. The Cabinet reiterated Kingdom's continued support to Yemen and urged the international community to stand united to enable Yemen to overcome all the challenges facing it. Dr. Khoja said the Council also discussed a number of issues including the progress in different government sectors. King Abdullah has directed the agencies concerned to carry out all projects in accordance with the deadlines set for them, with the objective of improving the standard of services and upgrading their efficiency. The Council referred to the economic, cultural and scientific activities witnessed by the Kingdom in the past few days lauding the achievements made by the International Higher Education Exhibition. The exhibition included more than 300 representatives from foreign universities among them the top 100 universities in the world besides the participation of 30 international scientific institutions.
