King Salman chairs the Cabinet meeting at Yamamah Palace in Riyadh.

King Salman has briefed the Cabinet on the outcome of his visit to a number of Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Japan and China.

Presiding over the Cabinet session Monday at Yamamah Palace, King Salman appreciated the keenness expressed by leaders of these countries in bolstering bilateral relations and the viewpoints over regional and global issues serving international peace and security.

The Cabinet expressed pride over the progress of relations between the Kingdom and the Asian countries. The Cabinet touched on the king’s historic visit to Japan and China, and his talks with their leaders, as well as his receiving the Japanese Medal of Daisy Flower and his awarding of an honorary doctorate from Beijing University in China.

The Cabinet affirmed that bilateral talks and the signing of a series of agreements between the Kingdom and Japan and China during the king’s visit will cement strategic ties between the Kingdom and the two countries and develop them to new horizons.

The Cabinet praised King Salman’s address at the opening session of an international conference organized by the Muslim World League. At the conference he stressed the Kingdom’s keenness to serve as an example for the protection of human rights, freedom and comprehensive development in the community in line with Islamic values.

The Cabinet appreciated the launch by Prince Mohammed bin Naif, crown prince, deputy premier and interior minister, of a campaign aimed to correct the positions of work and residency violators.

On the security front, the Cabinet expressed thanks to the Border Guards in the southern region for their role in thwarting attempts to plant land mines, smuggle weapons and drugs, and arresting the infiltrators and those involved the crimes.

The Cabinet touched on the outcome of a visit made by Deputy Crown Prince, Second Deputy Premier and Defense Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the US and his talks with its officials. The Cabinet stressed the talks will strengthen aspects of joint cooperation for the best interests of the two countries.

At the regional and global levels, the Cabinet also expressed the Kingdom’s condemnation of the targeting by Syrian regime air forces of the convoys of UN humanitarian aid, which led to the suspension of aid convoys in Syria. The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom’s concern over the results of a UN report reporting humanitarian and war crimes committed by the Syrian regime and its allies against the Syrian people, especially in Aleppo, which caused damage to schools, hospitals, water supplies and food.

Later, the Cabinet approved a series of decisions including: The Cabinet approved a general agreement for cooperation between the governments of Saudi Arabia and Burkina Faso.

The Cabinet authorized the health minister to discuss with the US a memo of understanding between the Saudi Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for medical research related to infectious diseases.

The Cabinet also authorized the health minister to discuss with Jordan a memo of understanding between the Saudi Ministry of Health and its Jordanian counterpart for cooperation in the health fields.

The Cabinet authorized the minister of culture and information to discuss with Jordan and Cuba two memos of understating for cooperation and exchange of news between the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and news agencies of the two countries.

The Cabinet authorized the minister of communications and information technology and board chairman of Saudi Post to discuss with Jordan a memo of understanding between the Saudi Post and the Jordanian Post for cooperation in postal services provided to Hajis and Umrah performers.

The Cabinet also authorized the minister of transport and board chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) to sign two draft agreements between the Saudi government and the Qatar and Chad governments for cooperation in air transport services.