The Cabinet approved Monday the Shoura Council draft regulation for periodic motor vehicle inspections and permitted repair garages and companies to conduct the inspections in compliance with regulations. Chaired by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Cabinet also tasked the National Traffic Safety Committee with creating a program to monitor periodic vehicle inspections, assess them, and submit recommendations to the Cabinet in five years from the date of approval of the regulation. The Cabinet was briefed on King Abdullah's contacts over the last week with the Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jabr Aal Thani, former US Vice President Dick Cheney, Sudanese President Omar Hasan Al-Beshir, Mauritanian President Muhammad Wild Abdul Aziz, and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Abdul Aziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency that the Cabinet expressed its satisfaction at the results of the Saudi-US Business Opportunities Forum recently concluded in Chicago, and its gratitude to UNESCO for its decision to host the third King Abdullah Translation Award prize ceremony, regarding the move as a sign of “appreciation for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' efforts to promote dialogue communication between peoples and civilizations”. The Cabinet reiterated the Kingdom's position calling for progress in the peace process in accordance with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. The Cabinet also approved the authorization of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to hold talks with Eritrea to draw up a draft cooperation agreement, and the authorization of the Minister of Higher Education to hold talks on a draft educational and scientific memorandum of understanding between his ministry and the Education Department in China's administrative division of Hong Kong.
