Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz

The Council of Ministers on Monday decided to establish a higher authority for the development of the Eastern Province.

The new body, to be chaired by the province’s governor, will set out the general policy for development and prepare feasibility studies for projects.

The move, according to Haj Minister and Acting Information Minister Bandar Hajjar, aims to boost the overall development of the region and providing it with necessary public facilities and services. The body shall have a board presided over by the governor of and a dedicated budget, he told SPA.

The new authority will also participate in preparing development of plans and budgets of government agencies and departments, public institutions and bodies and non-profit organizations in the region so as to ensure its balanced growth.

The Cabinet, which was presided over by Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, expressed its thanks and appreciation to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for his endeavors to strengthen GCC and Arab unity.

The Cabinet backed the king’s call to Egypt to support the GCC rapprochement, while emphasizing that the GCC would stand by Cairo.

Prince Salman briefed the Cabinet on the results of his meetings with the heads of delegations that attended the G-20 summit in Australia, while expressing appreciation of the Kingdom and its people to all G-20 leaders and heads of delegations on the summit’s positive outcome.

“The summit will have a great impact on forging closer cooperation between G-20 countries in all fields and on boosting progress and prosperity within the international community,” the crown prince said, while praising the Australian government’s successful management of the conference.

The Cabinet commended the final communiqué issued by an international conference organized by the King Abdullah International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna that opposed extremism and stressed the need for promote dialogue as an essential course to build peace and co-existence.

The Cabinet reiterated the Kingdom’s efforts to combat all forms of terrorism, pointing to the content of its speech before the UN Security Council on the issue.

The Kingdom demanded the Security Council to issue a decisive stand reflecting the will of the international community to eliminate terrorism.

The Council of Ministers approved controls on private schools benefiting from the lands of educational facilities. It instructed the education minister to form a standing committee in each education department to study the applications submitted by the owners of the lands of educational facilities or those licensed to establish private schools in these plots.

“The committee shall visit the site and study the request, taking into account a number of issues, including whether other lands of educational facilities shall be adequate for public schools that are still in rented buildings. The request shall not be approved in case of the availability of only one land for an educational facility in the neighborhood.

The Cabinet authorized the president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) to discuss with the Egyptian side a draft agreement for cooperation in the field of tourism. It also endorsed an agreement with Sri Lanka in the field of employment of domestic workers.

After reviewing the report issued by the Ministry of Health, the Cabinet approved a number of special procedures regarding breast milk substitutes.

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority has been instructed to determine prices of baby milk following the mechanism used for drug pricing. The current subsidy shall cover baby milk for children with metabolic, genetic and allergic diseases. Baby milk prices will reviewed periodically comparing them to prices prevailing in GCC countries.

The Cabinet approved a draft framework agreement for cooperation in the peaceful use of atomic energy between Saudi Arabia and other governments.

The Cabinet appointed Suleiman bin Mohammed bin Suleiman undersecretary at Governorate of Asir Region; Rashid bin Ali Al-Zaid ministry plenipotentiary, Salim bin Omar Bashihab is minister plenipotentiary, Abdulrahman bin Rashid Al-Rashed is minister plenipotentiary, Hassan bin Ibrahim Azwaid minister plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry; Sami bin Saleh Altrayef director-general of the Riyadh branch of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia); and Adel bin Hassan Al-Hassan undersecretary at Haia.

 
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