JEDDAH, 17 August 2005 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah will continue as chairman of the Supreme Economic Council (SEC), a high-level policy making body that oversees the Kingdom’s economic reforms.
A royal decree has been issued changing Article Four of SEC’s bylaw. “King Abdullah will be the SEC’s chairman while Crown Prince Sultan will be its deputy chairman,” the changed article said.
SEC’s members will include chairman of the Cabinet’s general committee, two state ministers, the ministers of labor, commerce and industry, petroleum and mineral resources, finance, economy and planning, water and electricity, and the governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the Saudi Press Agency said quoting the decree.
King Abdullah also reshuffled the SEC with Prince Sultan as deputy chairman, and State Minister Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Khuwaiter and Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi as members.
Other members are: State Minister Mutlab Al-Nafeesa, Commerce and Industry Minister Dr. Hashem Yamani, Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Naimi, Finance Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Economy and Planning Minister Khaled Al-Gosaibi, State Minister Abdullah Zainal, Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah Al-Hussayen, and SAMA Governor Hamad Al-Sayyari.
King Abdullah issued another decree appointing Sheikh Muhammad ibn Hassan Al-Asheikh as a member of the Permanent Committee for Research and Religious Ruling, an affiliate of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars.
SEC, which was instrumental in introducing a series of economic reforms including the new foreign investment law, has taken over the overall charge of planning and implementing the country’s privatization program.
King Fahd established the SEC in 1999 under the chairmanship of then Crown Prince Abdullah to take important policy decisions. It has already endorsed country’s privatization strategy and took major steps toward privatizing desalination projects and postal services. It also decided to establish a joint stock company for the petroleum and gas industry.
Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Tuwaijeri, secretary-general of the organization, said the new Petroleum Services Company will be owned by the government and the private sector and will serve the petroleum, gas and petrochemicals sector as well as other similar sectors.
According to an earlier Royal Decree, the SEC aims at ensuring social security, welfare and prosperity while sticking to Islamic values and preserving the country’s environment and natural resources. It will also work to develop the national economy at a steady and reasonable rate so as to achieve a real rise in per capita income.
Restraining public debt and keeping it under control within safe and reasonable limits is another major objective of the council, the decree said. It also emphasizes equitable distribution of income, investments and job opportunities, and setting up sound saving and investment channels.
SEC will study the general framework of the national development plan, the principles to be observed in preparing state budget, commercial policies at national and international levels, the rules which regulate the labor and financial markets and protect the consumer’s interests, and the industrial and agricultural policies prepared by authorities.
