The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session held on Tuesday afternoon at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah. At the outset of the session, the Cabinet discussed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's keenness to strengthen and develop relations with many fraternal and friendly countries, through exchanging visits and strengthening cooperation and consultation, reflecting the Kingdom's position and its regional and international role. In this context, the Cabinet commended the results of the talks His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister held with the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan during his official visit to the Kingdom and the signing of a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding between the two fraternal countries in various fields, as well as the announcement of the investment and commercial transactions worth more than $12.5 billion. The Cabinet was briefed on the content of the phone call received by HRH Crown Prince from the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, during which the bilateral relations and ways to develop joint cooperation between the two friendly countries were reviewed, in addition to discussing the latest regional and international developments, and the efforts made in their regard in order to achieve stability and peace. In his statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Acting Minister of Media, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, said that regarding the national affairs, the Cabinet reviewed the successes that have been achieved in the field of education, including progress at 16 indicators of global competitiveness, and the rise of eight positions compared to last year according to the World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2022, which is a reflection of the efforts to improve the quality of this sector as a basic pillar for achieving aspirations for progress and leadership. The Cabinet was also briefed on the issues on its agenda, including issues that the Shura Council has participated in their study. Also, the Cabinet was briefed on the conclusions reached by the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, the Council for Political and Security Affairs, the Cabinet's General Committee, and the Cabinet's Bureau of Experts in this regard. The Cabinet issued the following decisions: First: Authorizing the Minister of Culture and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts (RITA) - or a deputy - to discuss with the Korean side a draft memorandum of understanding between RITA in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Korea National University of Cultural Heritage in the Republic of Korea for cooperation in the field of traditional arts and sign it before referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures. second: Authorizing the Minister of Justice - or a deputy - to sign with the Gambian side a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the Ministry of Justice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Justice in the Republic of Gambia, and refer the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures. Third: Authorizing the Minister of Tourism - or a deputy - to negotiate with the countries expected to join the International Centre for Sustainable Tourism regarding a draft memorandum of understanding model between the Ministry of Tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the ministries of tourism in other countries regarding the establishment of the International Center for Tourism Sustainability and sign it before referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures. Fourth: Authorizing the Minister of Education - or a deputy - to negotiate with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) regarding the draft agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UNESCO regarding the operation of the Regional Center for Quality and Excellence in Public Education as a second category center under the supervision of UNESCO and sign it before referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures. Fifth: Authorizing the Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha'at) - or a deputy - to discuss with the Omani side a draft memorandum of cooperation between Monsha'at in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority in the Sultanate of Oman in the field of developing the small enterprises sector and entrepreneurship and sign it before referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures. Sixth: Approving an agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters. Seventh: Approving a memorandum of understanding between the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in the Arab Republic of Egypt in the field of communications and information technology. Eighth: Approving the draft agreement to establish the Saudi-Indonesian Supreme Coordination Council. Ninth: Approving the Tourism Law. Tenth: Approving the transfer the ownership of assets, granting rights, and transferring the state's financial and contractual obligations and rights related to health services provided by the Ministry of Health to the Health Holding Company (HHC) or any of its subsidiaries. Eleven: Appointing Eng. Ayman bin Ishaq Afghani as a member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, representing the Ministry of Economy and Planning. Twelfth: Renewing the membership of Dr. Hatem bin Dakhil Al-Dakhil, and appointing Eng. Abdurrahman bin Ahmed Shams Al-Din as a member - representing the private sector - in the Board of Directors of the National Center for Research and Development of Sustainable Agriculture (Estidama). The Cabinet also reviewed a number of general issues on its agenda, including annual reports of the Ministry of Transport and Logistics Services; the General Authority for Statistics; the National Center for Wildlife Development and the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, and the Cabinet has taken the necessary measures regarding these issues.
