RIYADH — The Council of Ministers reiterated the need to strictly comply with all precautionary measures and preventive protocols against coronavirus. The weekly virtual session of the Cabinet, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Tuesday, urged all the Saudi citizens and expatriates to complete receiving the doses of vaccine as soon as possible. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, Acting Minister of Media Dr. Majed Al-Qasabi said the Cabinet followed the developments of the epidemiological situation of coronavirus and its mutated strains. It reviewed a number of reports on the latest statistics and indices at both the local and global levels, and the ongoing evaluation of the precautionary measures being taken to preserve the health and safety of citizens, expatriates and visitors to the Two Holy Mosques. At the outset of the session, King Salman thanked the Shoura Council for the efforts exerted to fulfill the functions entrusted to it. The Cabinet members lauded the content of the King's annual speech to the Council. The speech included a comprehensive vision that reflected the established principles to achieve the Kingdom's growth, prosperity and progress in different fields in accordance with the Saudi Vision 2030. They also noted the King's briefing on Saudi Arabia's efforts to enhance peace and security in the region and the world as a whole. Al-Qasabi said the Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corporation and Russia's Ufa State Petroleum Technological University for cooperation in the fields of water desalination and operating and maintaining pipelines. It endorsed MoUs between Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture and its Japanese counterpart for cooperation in the environmental field, and between Saudi and Oman governments for cooperation in promoting investment. The Cabinet authorized Minister of Finance or his deputy to hold talks with the British side on a draft MoU between Saudi Ministry of Finance and the Exchequer in the UK to enhance cooperation in the fields of developing financial services and general finance, signing it and referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures. It also authorized President of the Islamic University or his deputy to hold talks with Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on a draft MoU between the two, signing it and referring the final signed copy to proceed with formal procedures. Al-Qasabi said the Cabinet appointed Faisal Al-Ibrahim, Eng. Ahmad Al-Haqbani, Lt. Gen. Suleiman Al-Amr, Dr. Saad Al-Qasabi, and Mohammed Al-Dahham, as specialists in fields pertaining to the work of the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission to be members of the Board of Directors of the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission.
