Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

:: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday briefed the Cabinet on the completion of Hajj preparations in line with the king’s directives to fully serve all pilgrims.

Chairing the Cabinet session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, the crown prince said the Kingdom will spare no effort to serve pilgrims.

The Cabinet thanked King Salman for allowing Qatari pilgrims to enter the Kingdom via the Salwa border crossing without electronic permits.

It also thanked the king for his directives to send Saudi Arabian Airlines aircraft to Doha to transport Qatari pilgrims, and to host them at his expense.

The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom’s strong condemnation of terror attacks in Nigeria, Spain, Russia and Finland that resulted in many deaths and injuries.

It stressed the Kingdom’s firm rejection of terrorism, and urged the international community to unify efforts to combat it.

The Cabinet authorized the minister of energy, industry and mineral resources, or whomever he authorizes, to discuss with China a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two governments to establish a Saudi-Chinese investment fund.

The Cabinet authorized the minister of justice, or whomever he authorizes, to discuss with China a draft judicial cooperation agreement between the two countries.

It authorized the minister of culture and information, or whomever he authorizes, to discuss with China an MoU on cooperation in the field of information.

The Cabinet approved an MoU on cooperation between the Saudi and Japanese governments on regulating procedures of granting visit visas to citizens of the two countries.

It approved an MoU on cooperation between the education ministries in Saudi Arabia and China.

The Cabinet approved the Kingdom joining a multilateral agreement on the automatic exchange of financial account information, which was signed in Tbilisi, Georgia.

It approved the regulation on non-disclosure of information for tax purposes, in line with agreements to which the Kingdom is party.

The Cabinet approved the government bearing fees for entry visas of committees for pilgrim affairs and organizers of pilgrim arrivals for the current Hajj season.

It also approved the government bearing fees for entry visas of seasonal workers for the current Hajj season.

The Cabinet approved implementation of decisions by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Supreme Council in its 36th session in Riyadh on equality of its members’ citizens in terms of health care.

It approved the system for distribution of dry gas and liquid petroleum gas for residential and commercial purposes.

The Cabinet approved regulations related to the termination of services of military officers and financial benefits to be paid to them.

Later, the crown prince met with US delegation includes Jared Kushner, senior adviser to the US President Donald Trump; Jason Greenblat, US special representative for International Negotiations; Dina Powell, US deputy national security adviser for strategy; and Tim Lenderking, deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Gulf Affairs.

The two sides agreed to advance their shared goal of working toward a genuine and lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and ensuring security, stability and prosperity across the Middle East. They also discussed the continued development of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (GCCEI).

Meanwhile, the US delegation also met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. The two sides affirmed their close relationship and committed to strengthen cooperation. They stressed their shared priority of cutting off all support for terrorists and extremists.