Under the chairmanship of Assistant Chairman of Shura Council Dr. Yahya bin Abdullah Al-Sam'an, Shura held its 62nd ordinary session, held here today. Shura then moved to discuss the report of the Committee on Culture, Information, Tourism and Antiquities on the annual report of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), for the Fiscal Year 1436/1437 AH. Following presenting the report and recommendations of the committee on SPA for general discussion, asserting that it has a great role in highlighting the role of the Kingdom, members demanded the Agency to activate its media, in line with Saudi Arabia's political and economic clout. In turn, a member questioned reasons for lack of investment in the budget savings of the agency, while another called for paying more attention to the accounts of SPA, in foreign languages, especially on social networks. For his part, a third member said that the regional offices of the agency are no longer feasible, in the presence of modern means of communication, calling for forming a professional advisory council to SPA Board of Directors, in order to guarantee developing its business. A member suggested that SPA be privatized and its media policies should be updated to keep abreast of events. Then Shura voted on recommendations of the committee and decided to call SPA to develop smart applications, its website and to improve electronic services, in different foreign languages. In its resolution, the Shura called on the Agency to bolster media training by establishing a media training center(s) and investing in it, in collaboration with the private sector. On the other hand, Shura called on the General Authority of Civil Aviation to handle high fares of internal tickets and to complete self-service system, at all airports. It adopted a decision, too, following hearing views of the Committee on Transport, Communications and Information Technology regarding members' opinions and views expressed on the annual report of the General Authority for Civil Aviation, for the Fiscal Year 1436/1437 AH, at a previous session.
