The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Monday afternoon. At the outset of the session, the King welcomed the visits of President Donald Trump of the United States of America, the leaders of Arab and Islamic countries, and participants in the 17th consultative meeting of leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States, Gulf-US Summit, and Arab-Islamic-US Summit to be hosted by the Kingdom, wishing them a pleasant stay. The King expressed his trust that Saudi-US Summit's talks to be held on Sha'ban 24th corresponding to May 20, will contribute to strengthening and enhancing strategic relations between the two countries in various fields and their aspects of cooperation on various issues at regional and international arenas for enhancing global security and stability. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques expressed his looking forward that the consultative meeting to be held on Sha'ban 25th corresponding to May 21st will contribute to consolidating the Gulf solidarity and that the Gulf-US Summit will result in supporting relations and further concerted efforts towards achieving aspirations for enhancing security, stability and peace in the region. The King stressed that the Arab-Islamic-US Summit to be held on the same day comes in light of challenges and delicate situations being witnessed by the world, expressing his hope that this historic summit will establish a new partnership in confronting extremism and terrorism, disseminating the values of tolerance and coexistence, and enhancing security, stability and cooperation to serve the present and future of our peoples. Then, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the results of his talks with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Republic of Equatorial Guinea and the telephone call made to President Emmanuel Macaron on his election as President of the French Republic. The Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Alawwad said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) after the session that the Cabinet commended the activities of "Naif, Values" exhibition and conference which was opened by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and was held to document the works and achievements of late Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and was hosted by King Abdulaziz University as a part of Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Chair Initiatives for Moral Values to highlight late Prince Naif's pioneering role and achievements for his religion, homeland and nation. The Cabinet also hailed awarding Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, the honorary doctorate in the field of combating terrorism from King Abdulaziz University. The Cabinet was briefed on a number of reports on local affairs and discussed, in this context, the various services being provided by governmental and private agencies to Umrah performers and visitors, and their readiness for the advent of the blessed month of Ramadan where the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has directed to exert the great and best efforts to ensure the provision of all services for the visitors of the Two Holy Mosques and the keenness on the coordination of efforts to achieve more comfort and reassurance for them in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah as well as to redouble efforts to address the intensity of Umrah performers and visitors during the holy month of Ramadan. In the same context, the Cabinet commended the 17th Scientific Forum for Haj and Umrah Research which was opened on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques at Taibah University in Madinah by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Interior, Chairman of the Higher Hajj Committee and President of Supreme Supervisory Committee of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research. The Cabinet hailed the recommendations of the "World Conference on the Rights of the Prophet's Companions, House of the Prophet, peace be upon him, His Wives and Their Virtue", organized by the Islamic University in Madinah and included the call to establish an international prize in the name of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to be awarded to the distinguished efforts, researches and studies in the fields of the definition of the virtues and ethics of the Companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family and his wives, may Allah be pleased with them. The Cabinet also commended the recommendations of the "World Conference on the Rights of the Prophet's Companions, House of the Prophet, peace be upon him, His Wives and Their Virtue", included the proposal to establish a center for studies and research at the Islamic University to be called "The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Center for Studies and Research of Companions of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him", and the call for the establishment of an encyclopedia to be translated into different international languages and to be concerned with what the biographies of the Righteous Caliphs and the lives of Prophet's Companions, House of the Prophet, peace be upon him and His Wives, may offer of solutions of the moral, social and economic problems in our world. The Minster explained that the Cabinet confirmed that the quarterly report on the performance of the general state budget, for the first quarter of the fiscal year 1438/1439 H (2017), comes within the commitment of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to transparency and financial openness, at a time it continues to work on applying the initiatives of the national transformation program within the Kingdom's 2030 vision, noting the positive results reflected in the report, including a rise in revenues, impressive improvement in the efficiency of spending and the decrease in the budget deficit, better-than-preliminary-estimates of indexes, and a remarkable progress shown in the endeavors made to achieve a balanced budget as part of the Kingdom's efforts towards building a more steady and diversified robust economy, and less affected by world markets' fluctuations, particularly in the oil sector. On the other hand, the Cabinet confirmed that Saudi Arabia's hosting of a preparatory meeting on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Yemen, undertaken by the Ministry of Finance, under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, upon recommendations of the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, to organize the event, is considered the start point in inspiring the regional and international commitments to join the drive and take part in the rehabilitation and reconstruction process in Yemen in the short and medium terms, and underscore the importance of joint international efforts and exert the necessary assistance to bring about a decent life for the Yemeni people. The Cabinet condemned the terror shooting incident on the workers at a development project in Al-Masurha district in Qatif Province aiming to obstruct the project and defend the terrorist activities, stressing that the security authorities would carry out their duties and obligations in imposing public order at the development site in the neighborhood to allow the project to go as projected and noting that such terrorist acts aiming to the destruction, subversion and terrorizing of the peaceful citizens would not impede the development project. The minister said that the Cabinet was briefed on the agenda of the meeting, some of which the Shura Council has co-reviewed. The Cabinet issued the following decisions: First: The Cabinet authorized the concerned authorities to discuss and sign a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding with the United States of America. Second: The Cabinet approved the organization of armed forces officers' clubs. Third: The Cabinet ordered the reformation of the board of directors of the Social Development Bank for three years, under the chairmanship of the minister of labor and social development with the following dignitaries as members: 1- Dr. Ghasan bin Ahmed Al-Suleiman, representative of the ministry of commerce and investment 2- The director general of the social development bank 3- Tareq bin Abdullah Al-Shohaib, representative of the ministry of finance 4- Eng. Majed bin Saad Al-Osaimi, representative of the ministry of labor and social development 5- Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Abalkhail, representative of the Technological and Vocational Training authority 6- Dr. Fahd bin Ibrahim Al-Shatri, representative of SAMA 7- Nabil bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Eng. Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Al-Obaikan, Dr. Abdulraoof Mohammed Manna'a and Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Rebdi, efficient and expert high-ranking officials. Fourth: The Cabinet approved a number of promotions at 14th and 15th ranks and a job of ambassador as following: 1- Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Saud bin Musalam is promoted to the 15th rank. 2- Eng. Isaam bin Abdullatif bin Othman Al-Malla is promoted to a post of undersecretary for reconstruction and projects (rank 15) at Eastern Region Principality. 3- Nabil bin Hussain bin Hassan Ashri is promoted to a job of ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 4- Fahd bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Abduljabar is promoted to a post of head of notary (rank 14) at the Ministry of Justice. 5- Eng. Hamza Jafaar bin Mustafa Sabiaa is promoted to the post of undersecretary for reconstruction and projects (rank 14) at Madinah Region Principality. 6- Khalil bin Othman bin Abdulaziz Al-Thabet is promoted to a post of head of sector (rank 14) at the Ministry of Finance. 7- Abdulmohsen bin Mohammed bin Abdurrahman Al-Nasser is promoted to a post of director general of president's office (rank 14) at The Cabinet was briefed on a number of issues on its agenda, including the annual report of the General Authority for Sports for a previous fiscal year. The Cabinet issued relevant recommendations on it.
