The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session held at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Tuesday afternoon. At the outset of the session, the Cabinet's members highly valued the contents of the annual speech of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques upon opening the activities of the (3rd) year of the (8th) session of the Shura Council, as they also hailed the constants of the Kingdom's internal and external policy, as well as the achievements of the Vision 2030 of strategies, programs and projects to create a better future for the country and its citizens, in addition to the Kingdom's positions and international initiatives in support of the goodness of humanity. Then, the Cabinet was briefed on the content of the talks that took place between the Kingdom and a number of countries in the past days, including the two messages received by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH Crown Prince, from King of the Kingdom of Morocco, and related to the bilateral relations between the two fraternal countries and peoples, and ways to support and strengthen them in various fields, as well as the content of the phone call made by HRH Crown Prince to the President of Ukraine, during which the Kingdom's position in support of everything that contributes to reducing the escalation in Ukraine, and its willingness to continue mediation efforts, was confirmed. The Cabinet also touched on the overall discussions of HRH Crown Prince with the President of the Republic of South Africa, and the outcomes of his official visit to the Kingdom in signing agreements and memoranda of understanding between the two countries with an estimated value of more than ($15 billion), and agreement on the importance of strengthening joint action in order to advance the bilateral relations between the two countries to new and promising horizons in various fields. In his statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of State, Cabinet's Member for Shura Council Affairs and Acting Minister of Media, Dr. Essam bin Saad bin Saeed, stated that the Cabinet welcomed the signing of partnerships and agreements by the private sector in the Kingdom and the Sultanate of Oman aimed at opening up prospects for cooperation in the growth of the digital economy, enhancing innovation, developing digital government, expanding technical exports and investment partnerships, and e-commerce activity. The Cabinet reviewed a number of regional and international issues, reiterating the Kingdom's assertion during a Security Council session on Yemen that it continues to support international efforts to bring peace to Yemen, and called on the international community to classify the Houthi militia as a terrorist group, boycott it and dry up its sources of funding. The Cabinet was briefed on the topics on its agenda, as well as 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: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, or his representative, to negotiate and co-sign with the Kyrgyz side regarding a draft memorandum of understanding in the field of environmental protection between the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Technical Supervision in the Kyrgyz Republic. Second: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Economy and Planning, or his representative, to discuss and co-sign with the Omani side a draft memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Economy and Planning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Economy in the Sultanate of Oman in the field of economy and planning. Third: The Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding in the field of cybersecurity between the National Cybersecurity Authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Naif Arab University for Security Sciences. Fourth: The Cabinet approved the national strategy for industry. Fifth: The Cabinet approved the final accounts of the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha'at), the General Authority for Statistics, and the General Authority of Ports, for previous fiscal years. Sixth: The Cabinet approved a number of appointments and promotions at the 15th rank and 14th rank. The Cabinet also reviewed several issues on its agenda, including the annual reports of the Ministry of Sports, the sector of National Technology Development Program (NTDP), and the National Center for the Promotion of Mental Health and took necessary procedures regarding them.
