Al-Asheikh said King Abdullah would deliver a keynote speech on the occasion that would outline the Kingdom’s internal and foreign policies. The king will also issue guidelines and directives to members of the Shoura. “We are extremely happy over the king’s inauguration of the second year sessions of the fifth Shoura Council,” the chairman said, adding that the king’s speech would cover a number of important topics.

He highlighted the 150-member Shoura’s role in providing judicious views on various domestic and international issues. “It has immensely contributed to expanding the base of decision-making in the country.” Last year the Shoura held 77 meetings and issued 111 resolutions on various issues, most importantly laws related to legal proceedings and criminal procedures as well as a railway law and a cooperative health insurance law.  Al-Asheikh said the Shoura would undergo further reforms, which includes developing its mode of operation and strengthening its regulatory and monitoring roles.

Meanwhile, the Council of Ministers held a meeting at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday and discussed major regional developments, including Middle East peace and the situations in Iraq and Palestine.

The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, commended “the Workshop on International Legal Framework for Counter-Terrorism and its Financing” for highlighting Saudi Arabia’s pioneering experience in confronting terror and terror finance.

Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet took a number of important resolutions. It authorized Khoja to hold talks with Indian officials to sign an agreement for cooperation between the Saudi Press Agency and the Press Trust of India.

The Cabinet also assigned the chief executive officer of Saudi Food and Medicine Authority to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Indian Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The president of King Saud University will sign another MOU with the Indian Institute of Science. The three accords are expected to be signed when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Riyadh this week.

Khoja said the Cabinet authorized Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf to sign a protocol with his Syrian counterpart in order to amend the agreement governing the Saudi-Syrian Joint Commission. In accordance with the amendment, the commission’s meetings will be chaired by the finance ministers of the two countries.

The Cabinet authorized the minister of municipal and rural affairs to sign a MOU with Morocco for exchange of information in town planning. The meeting also passed a law for honey farming in the Kingdom. The Cabinet appointed Raid bin Khaled Qarmali as an ambassador, Muhammad bin Abdullah Barri as minister plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry, and Aida bin Musaed Al-Zahrani at assistant deputy minister for external information at the Ministry of Culture and Information.