Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, today chaired the Saudi Cabinet meeting held in Riyadh.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Minister of Culture and Information Dr Fouad bin Abdulsalam Al-Farsy said that the Crown Prince highlighted the strong position of the Saudi economy and its continued achievement of positive results with expansion of private sector activity and development of the local investment environment. The Crown Prince noted the ‘A’ rating attributed to the Kingdom by Fitch international rating agency and the previous identical rating issued by SandP international rating agency.
The Cabinet welcomed the registration of voters for municipal councils in Riyadh Region, which will lead to enhanced services for citizens and communities.
The Crown Prince lauded efforts exerted by the Ministry of Economy and Planning, and the General Census Authority, for having compiled initial results of the general census of population and residences. The results have shown that the total population of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the day of the census was 22,673,583 people.
The Minister of Culture and Information said that the Cabinet reviewed developments in Iraq and Palestine, and urged the international community to unite to restore security, stability and peace.
The Cabinet noted the Sharm Al-Sheikh conference concerning the situation in Iraq and its future. The Cabinet stressed that providing an appropriate security and political climate boosts the confidence of the Iraqi people in the political system and encourages them to participate in general elections. Resorting to force to subdue elements apposed to the current political regime in Iraq will only lead to increased dissension and deepening of differences among Iraqis, the Cabinet said.
On the situation in Palestine, the Cabinet called upon the international community to curb Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and to support the resumption of the peace process between Palestinian and Israeli sides to conclude a comprehensive settlement for peace and security in the region.
Dr Al-Farsy said that the Cabinet then reviewed items on its domestic agenda and issued the following decisions:
The Cabinet agreed that the ownership of movable assets and immovable properties could be transferred to the Saudi Commission for Industrial Cities and Technological Areas from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry while government facilities in industrial cities remain owned by the government, if the services provided at these facilities are carried out by any governmental body.
The Cooperative Health Insurance Council was reconstituted for three years as follows: The Minister of Health as Chairman; Council members: Dr Abdulrahman bin Abdullah Al-Mo’ammar, Representative of the Interior Ministry; Dr Mansour bin Nassir Al-Hawasi, Representative of the Ministry of Health; Sami bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Representative of the Ministry of Labour; Ali bin Mohammed Al-Ghaith, Representative of the Ministry of Finance; Mansour bin Sulaiman Al-Sulaiman, Representative of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Dr Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rabee’a and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at King Saud University, Representatives of the Health Sector; Nassir bin Sultan Al-Subaie’e, Representative of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Musa bin Abdulkareem Al-Ribaian, Representative of Cooperative Insurance Companies; and Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Isa, Representative of the Private Health Sector.
The Cabinet approved the appointment of Saad bin Abdulrahman bin Fahd Al-Homoodi as Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs for Technical Affairs; and Khalid bin Abdulkareem bin Ahmed Al-Suwailem as Consultant for Landed Estate Affairs at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.
Source: SPA
