Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard on Monday chaired the Cabinet’s weekly meeting at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah.
At the outset of the meeting, the Crown Prince briefed the Cabinet on talks held by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz and the Crown Prince with Malaysian Premier Abdullah Ahmed Badawi. The talks covered recent developments in Islamic and international arenas, particularly in Palestine and Iraq, and means of enhancing various aspects of cooperation between the two sides. The Crown Prince praised the firm relations between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia and stressed the keenness of the two countries two promote further cooperation.
The Crown Prince informed the Cabinet of recent messages, meetings and consultation held by the King and the Crown Prince with leaders and envoys of other countries on regional and international affairs, particularly Israel’s constant aggression against the Palestinian people.
The Cabinet expressed its hope that the hand over of authority in Iraq will lead to a restoration of stability and security in economic, political and other fields, enabling Iraq to resume its role as an active participant in Arab, Islamic and international arenas.
The Minister of Social Affairs and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Dr Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Namlah said that the Cabinet then reviewed domestic items on its agenda and issued the following decisions:
The Cabinet approved the patent draft bill on plan designs for integrated circuits, plant species and industrial samples.
The Cabinet approved the draft agreement on cooperation between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Poland in economic, commercial, investment, technological, cultural, tourism and youth fields.
The Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance or his deputy was authorized to discuss with the Yemeni side a draft memorandum of understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Yemen in the field of Islamic affairs and endowments.
The Cabinet endorsed several amendments on the regulations of electric services. Upon the recommendations of the Minister of Water and Electricity, who is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Corporation for Saline Water, the Cabinet announced the following:
The authority will be called the Electricity and Dual Production Organizing Authority. The Authority reports directly to the Minister of Water and Electricity and is both financially and administratively independent. The preface of Article Three of the regulation is amended as follows: the Authority aims to guarantee the provision of electric service and dual production projects at efficient, highly credible and moderately priced levels. Within the general policies and plans of electricity, the Authority undertakes organizing the electricity sector and dual production projects and suggests their regulations, etc. The Authority conducts periodical scientific and technical reviews of the cost of electrical services and dual production projects and their tariffs; it protects the interests of dual production projects and power users, producers, providers, distributors and investors in this sector and protects their rights. The Authority works, in cooperation with the Ministry of Water and Electricity, to achieve organized expansion of the infrastructure of electricity, electrical services and dual production projects and is responsible for making them available to consumers at appropriate and reasonable prices and high quality in all parts of the Kingdom. The Authority has the right to consider disputes and claims relating to the electricity sector and dual production projects which are raised by the concerned parties, particularly providers of the service, consumers or clients of providers and to seek to resolve them. The Authority is entitled to create a unified accounting system which will be obligatory for all service providers in the field of electricity and dual production projects, in accordance with which fixed tariffs could be established. The Authority will have a board of directors comprising twelve members and the Minister of Water and Electricity who will be Chairman.
The Cabinet endorsed the agreement concluded between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on mutual promotion and protection of investments.
The Cabinet approved the final accounts of the Saudi Development Fund for the fiscal year 1422-1423H.
The Cabinet approved the appointment of Anwar bin Abdulfattah Abdrabbou as Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sami bin Sufouq bin Al-Basheer as Economic Advisor at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
Source: SPA
