Shoura Council President Abdullah Al-Asheikh speaks at the regular session on Tuesday.

A Shoura Council member called on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) to create a database on cases of corruption in the Kingdom.

Shoura Council members on Wednesday listened to a report presented by the Committee on Human Rights and Regulatory Agencies based on the annual report of Nazaha.

Members said realization of Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (2020) necessitates supporting Nazaha.

Another member, meanwhile, said the health sector does not cooperate with Nazaha to address remarks reported by Nazaha on the health sector. He asked Nazaha to cooperate with the Saudi Health Council (SHC) as it undertakes a leading role in providing health services in the Kingdom. One member noted that there was an overlap (of jurisdictions) between Nazaha and other regulatory agencies.

Another member called on Nazaha to clarify reasons why the Kingdom lags in global anti-corruption indicators. In this context, another member said the Kingdom’s lagging position in these indicators will have a negative impact on attracting foreign investment.

One member also asked for control on private sector companies, notably those listed on the Saudi stock market.

Later, council members listened to the report of the Committee of Social Affairs, Family and Youth based on the annual report of the Social Development Bank (SDB) for the fiscal year 1436/1437H.

Within its recommendations, the committee called on the SDB to raise the volume of productive loans, quantitatively and qualitatively, to realize the set goals for which the bank was established.

Commenting on the report, some members called for re-structuring of the SDB to include the Charity Social Fund, especially after the establishment of the Authority on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Another member urged the bank to support productive families financially and administratively, with a possibility of converting them into developing and then into small-scale companies.

At the outset of the session, the council approved a draft agreement on combating crime between the governments of Saudi Arabia and Burkina Faso.