The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Prime Minister, chaired the Cabinet's virtual session today. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the content of the letter received from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the letter sent to President Salva Kiir Mayardit of Republic of South Sudan, and the phone call with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Then the Cabinet lauded the success of the Saudi Green Initiative Forum and the Middle East Green Initiative Summit that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted this week to launch a package of qualitative initiatives to protect the environment, face the challenges of climate change and reduce its negative impacts, and establish the necessary infrastructure to reduce emissions and raise the level of regional coordination in this field in order to make a global difference in preserving the nature and humans, raising the quality of life and creating a better environment for future generations. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Acting Minister of Media Dr. Majed Al-Qasabi said that the Cabinet expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's appreciation for the efforts exerted by the Italian Republic to make the works of the G20 Presidency successful this year, through the collective action, and its keenness to continue the efforts exerted to make the works of the summit, scheduled to be held in the Italian capital Rome on October 30-31, a success. The Cabinet reviewed a number of reports on the latest regional and international developments, welcoming and praising the UN Security Council's press statement on Yemen, which condemned the Houthi cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia. The Cabinet considered the statement an important boost to the exerted efforts that aim to support reaching a comprehensive political solution and make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's endeavors successful. The Cabinet reiterated Saudi Arabia's firm position on supporting the Palestinian case and finding a just solution to secure the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, stressing the content of Kingdom's speech delivered before the Economic and Financial Committee of the United Nations, including obligating the Israeli occupation authorities to comply with international resolutions and laws, end the occupation and withdraw completely from the occupied Arab lands. The Cabinet followed the developments in the Republic of Sudan, stressing the importance of restraint and a de-escalation, and calling for preserving political and economic gains, and everything that aims to protect unity among all political components. The Cabinet affirmed that the Kingdom continues to support the Sudanese people and all things supporting Sudan's security, stability, growth and prosperity. The Cabinet also touched upon Saudi Arabia's speech during its participation in Libya Stabilization Conference, held in Tripoli. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirmed support for international efforts to preserve its unity and the security, praising the steps taken by the Libyan authority to meet the aspirations and hopes of the Libyan people towards achieving a united, sovereign state that enjoys peace, security, stability and development. The Cabinet was briefed on a number of issues on its agenda, and issued the following decisions: First: Authorizing the Minister of Sports – or his deputy – to hold discussions with the Qatari side on a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the sports and youth sector between the governments of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar, and signing it before referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures. Second: Authorizing the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance – or his deputy – to hold discussions with the Greek side on a draft memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Education and Religions in Greece in the field of Islamic affairs, and signing it before referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures Third: Authorizing the Minister of Tourism – or his deputy – to hold discussions with the British side on a draft memorandum of understanding in the tourism field between the Ministry of Tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and signing it before referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures Fourth: Authorizing the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture – or his deputy – to hold discussions with the Secretariat of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification on a draft cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Secretariat of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and signing it before referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures. Fifth: Approving the organization of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Center for Planning and Linguistic Policies. Sixth: Approving the bylaw of payments and their services. Seventh: Approving the licensing of the Sohar International Bank to open a branch to practice banking businesses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and authorizing the Minister of Finance to consider any application to open other branches for the bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Eighth: Approving the joining of the Ministry of Transport and Logistic Services, the Ministry of Tourism and General Entertainment Authority to the National Committee for Tobacco Control, which was formed under the Cabinet's Decision No. (46) dated 1/2/1428 Hijri Ninth: The General Entertainment Authority shall sign a memorandum of understanding with the Small and Medium Enterprises Loan Guarantee Program (Kafalah) to demonstrate the mechanism that the Program guarantees loans of small and medium enterprises working in the entertainment sector Tenth: The Cabinet approved a number of promotions at (15-14) ranks. The Cabinet also reviewed a number of general topics on its agenda and took the necessary measures regarding these topics.
